Hamster Kombat faces legal battle with early investor over ownership

Hamster Kombat (CRYPTO:HMSTR), a popular tap-to-earn game on Telegram, is currently facing a legal dispute in Russia involving its alleged creator, Eduard Gurinovich, and one of its early investors, Ad.ru, an IT holding company. 

According to reports from Lenta.ru, Gurinovich developed Hamster Kombat through a company named Arenum, in which Ad.ru holds a 25% stake after investing $600,000. 

The conflict centers around the ownership and profits related to the game, which has attracted over 300 million users.

Arenum was initially pitched to Ad.ru in 2020 as a platform for games and esports, but after funding ran out in 2021, the company raised $10 million through an initial token offering. 

However, Ad.ru claims that it did not receive any share of these funds. 

Despite this, Arenum continued to develop its platform, eventually launching Hamster Kombat in 2024 to widespread success.

The tension between Gurinovich and Ad.ru escalated when Gurinovich allegedly denied the company’s involvement in Hamster Kombat, despite earlier acknowledging their participation. 

Ad.ru’s CEO, Anton Gorshkov, expressed frustration over this sudden change, stating that Gurinovich initially reassured them about future profits before distancing himself from the project. 

Documents reviewed by Lenta.ru confirmed the connection between Arenum and Hamster Kombat, including the use of Arenum’s corporate email to register the game’s domain.

In response to these developments, Ad.ru has filed a pre-trial claim and intends to pursue the matter in court to protect its interests and seek justice. 

The legal dispute has cast uncertainty over the future of Hamster Kombat, particularly regarding an upcoming airdrop planned by the game’s developers. 

It remains unclear whether this legal conflict will result in delays or even the cancellation of the airdrop event.

At the time of writing, the Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) price was $0.2524.