Discover how Pixelmon's onchain revival breathes new life into the monster-collecting genre, and how Kevin emerged as a symbol of determination and resilience.

Pixelmon, an onchain monster collecting game, is poised for a comeback.

“We’re building an onchain revival to the monster collecting genre,” says CEO Guliano Xiloyannis, who is aiming to capture the hearts of nostalgic gamers who once adored games of a similar genre but now find the established franchises lacking novelty.

But to talk about Pixelmon, we need to talk about Kevin.

When the original Pixelmon collection was released during the peak of the NFT hype-cycle, the project soared to remarkable heights before any of their digital monsters were even revealed. Once the monsters were put on display, the results were (to put it gently) underwhelming. The voxel-based collection of characters felt rushed and not up to the level of quality that collectors expected. Amongst the various monster designs was one that caught the attention of the internet: a blocky-looking, cockeyed zombie, posed on a beach in front of palm trees and given the dubious name of ‘Kevin’.

Kevin became the face of not only the unfortunate art of Pixelmon, but everything perceived to be wrong about the NFT space as a whole. Kevin was memed into the limelight, a perfect punchline to describe when expectations and reality look profoundly different.

While all signs pointed to this being the end of Pixelmon’s story, it was just the beginning. The project’s path to resurgence took a pivotal turn when it was acquired by Liquid X, an external company with a much clearer mission than its predecessor. Reflecting on the initial challenges faced by the project, Xiloyannis candidly admits, "This is a comeback project. It's a project that, in the NFT space, didn't live up to the expectations in the first weeks of its life."

The Pixelmon world is a post-apocalyptic realm where animals have mutated into colorful and fascinating tribes of sometimes not-so-friendly monsters, each of which is represented by an onchain asset. As Xiloyannis explains, "Their onchain counterparts represent IP rights to our monsters within this IP franchise." Under the new leadership’s guidance, Pixelmon underwent a complete and total transformation, being rebuilt “from the bottom up” and updating all artwork, fleshing out the world’s lore, and embracing a transmedia approach that goes beyond gaming into animation, comic books, and more.

Emphasizing the importance of learning from past mistakes, Xiloyannis states, "If we don't get it right the first time, we are going to keep building. We're still here, we’re determined, and we're going to come out on top." The sentiment fits in perfectly with their Onchain Summer release, immortalizing Kevin by turning him into a physical collectible, redeemed onchain.

Xiloyannis emphasizes that the toy represents something larger than just a humorous mishap, "We made this for anyone who believes that the whole crypto ecosystem can make a comeback and have an overall positive impact on the world while owning its past. And in that sense, I believe that Kevin is for everybody."