D20 Labs to shut down Sugartown after failing to secure future for web3 gaming platform

• D20 Labs said it was unable to find a sustainable path to release the titles.
• Sugartown was originally launched by Zynga before being spun out to D20 Labs in 2024.
• The company cited declining demand for crypto and blockchain gaming.
• Sugartown's IP, including unreleased games and assets, will be released to the community.

D20 Labs has revealed it is shutting down all services for Sugartown, the web3 gaming platform that originally launched under Zynga before being spun out as an independent company.

In a statement to the community, the studio said it had fully developed multiple additional games following the launches of NGMI, ATH, RNPC and WSOA. 

However, the team lost access to a key technical dependency from a partner in late 2024, preventing the titles from launching despite being ready for release. It said efforts to find a new and sustainable path for the games ultimately proved unsuccessful.

“We explored many new potential paths to launch in a viable and sustainable manor, but despite multiple conversations and discussions, we weren't able to find a new landing spot for the games," said the team in a post. 

Project legacy

Sugartown was unveiled by Zynga in 2023 as the company's flagship web3 gaming platform built on Ethereum. 

In September 2024, Zynga sold all Sugartown products and assets to newly formed studio D20 Labs, which was founded by former Zynga web3 executives Matt Wolf and Tommy Ngo and staffed by the company's former web3 division.

D20 Labs said it had pursued a vision of building web3 games for a mass-market audience, but demand for crypto and blockchain gaming continued to decline. 

“We fully intend to release the full Sugartown IP including unreleased and unannounced games to the community, free and permanent on access," said the team. 

“This includes Oras to cco, access to creative and art assets, and software for the games both launched and unreleased. All NFTs will remain on-chain in your wallets and nothing with ownership will change. We're finalising details with counsel to post a follow-up within the upcoming weeks."