Overknights Shares New Roadmap for Economy and Play-to-Airdrop System

The developers of Overknights have started to pull back the curtain on their economic framework and a new Play-to-Airdrop (P2A) system. After teasing major updates earlier this year, the roadmap now outlines how in-game actions, ownership, and seasonal rankings will tie into actual rewards.

This isn’t just another “grind-for-tokens” pitch. The team seems intent on building a system where players are rewarded for skill, activity, and time invested but in a way that doesn’t immediately inflate or crash the value of their tokens. That balance is tricky, and this roadmap gives us a first glimpse at how they’re planning to walk that line.

A phased approach to rewards and ownership

Overknights’ updated roadmap breaks the economic rollout into several phases. The first is focused on expanding the core gameplay loop and onboarding players through non-tokenized rewards, gradually leading into the use of $SMP tokens.

Rather than launching a fully tokenized system out of the gate, the devs are staggering it. Token rewards will be introduced only after key infrastructure is in place, including ranked PvP and seasonal leaderboards. This helps avoid early exploits and sets up a cleaner integration between gameplay and token mechanics.

This approach feels more cautious than most Web3 titles, which often overload early players with unsustainable token farming systems. Overknights seems to be trying something more measured building a foundation first, and letting value accrue naturally through player involvement.

Play-to-Airdrop isn’t passive, it’s competitive

The P2A system, now in “Phase One,” is less about holding NFTs and more about actually playing. Players earn points through battles, with higher rankings tied to better rewards in the upcoming airdrop of $SMP.

Unlike some P2A systems that reward idle staking or wallet snapshots, this one puts focus squarely on ranked performance. The leaderboard is already live, and players can earn “Ranking Points” through wins. These points accumulate over the season and translate directly into airdrop eligibility.

The system encourages regular engagement and competitive play, not just early adoption. It could help filter out speculators and prioritize the most active community members when tokens finally drop.

Genesis NFTs still matter but not in isolation

The project’s Genesis Pilots NFTs retain a meaningful role, particularly when paired with active gameplay. Holding these NFTs unlocks multipliers for rewards and leaderboard points, but they aren’t enough on their own.

This dual system ownership plus performance pushes players to participate rather than passively benefit. It’s also a way to balance early supporter rewards with ongoing merit-based incentives.

It’s not a perfect fix, but it’s clearly designed to avoid the usual Web3 pitfall of rewarding idle holders over actual players. If they can keep that balance, it might make for a healthier, longer-lasting in-game economy.

Token launch timing still unclear

Although the roadmap sketches out the framework, there’s still no confirmed date for the actual token launch. That’s likely intentional, as they seem focused on building the right mechanics before injecting liquidity.

What we do know is that the airdrop will be directly tied to the seasonal leaderboard, and those participating now will shape the earliest stages of the token economy. The team’s emphasis on gradual rollout suggests they’re trying to avoid a pump-and-dump scenario.

That said, without firm timelines or a tokenomics breakdown, there’s still a layer of uncertainty. Much depends on how smoothly the current P2A phase plays out, and how the community reacts to it over the next few months.

A different tone from the typical Web3 rollout

What stands out about Overknights isn’t just the mechanics, but the way the team is framing them. Instead of leading with token hype, they’re building out game systems first and making player activity central to future value.