Ronin, this blockchain focused on gaming supports titles such as... Axie Infinity and Pixels will migrate to a native Ethereum network on May 12, marking a fundamental shift after four years of operating as an Ethereum sidechain.
This migration will be triggered at block height 55,577,490, as Ronin transitions to the OP Stack, an Ethereum Layer 2 infrastructure that supports millions of transactions daily for other scaling networks. Ronin developers state that the mainnet will be offline for approximately 10 hours during the migration (from 11 AM to 9 PM ET), and users should prepare for potential unavailability of games during this time.
This economic restructuring will have far-reaching effects. The RON token inflation rate will drop sharply from over 20% to under 1%, while market fees flowing into the treasury will increase from 0.5% to 1.25%, a 2.5-fold rise. Additionally, the 90 million RON tokens previously used for staking will be transferred to the Ronin treasury.
As the migration progresses, a new "proof of allocation" system will automatically distribute RON rewards to developers, replacing the manual distribution process, as the network reestablishes itself within the Ethereum ecosystem.
This moment reflects the growing pressure on independent game chains to leverage existing infrastructure rather than maintain costly standalone networks. During Axie Infinity’s peak in 2021–2022, Ronin processed NFT transaction volumes worth billions of dollars, but as the crypto gaming market declined, sustaining this infrastructure has proven extremely challenging.
Launched in 2021, Ronin was designed to meet the transaction needs of Axie Infinity, as Ethereum mainnet fees made the game economically unsustainable. This sidechain solution enabled the "play-to-earn" phenomenon, attracting millions of daily active users and generating unprecedented trading volume for blockchain games.
The developers of Ronin, Sky Mavis, say that advancements in layer-two technology deliver the same benefits—low cost and high throughput—while inheriting Ethereum’s security guarantees.
Although the RON token rose approximately 11% over the past week, reaching a recent price of $0.097, its value has declined significantly over the past few years as the crypto gaming boom has largely faded. Data shows that RON has dropped nearly 81% over the past year. CoinGecko reports that the current price is down about 98% from its peak of $4.45 in March 2024.
Tokens of popular games on the Ronin platform have also plunged significantly: Axie Infinity’s AXS token has dropped more than 99% from its November 2021 peak, and Pixels’ PIXEL token has fallen by the same magnitude from its March 2024 high. However, this is not unique to Ronin and its games—other major game tokens, such as Immutable (IMX) and Gala Games (GALA), have also declined by at least 98% from their respective peaks.
Many well-known crypto games shut down during 2025, with developers often citing lack of funding and player interest as reasons for ceasing operations. This trend continued into 2026, with recent closures including The Forgotten Rune Universe on Ronin and Xociety on Sui.
Industry experts saydecrypt By the end of 2025, a wave of closures in crypto gaming emerged, primarily due to weakening momentum in blockchain gaming and a sharp decline in venture capital funding, forcing many projects to either pivot or shut down their games entirely. This downward trend has continued into this year.