The team behind the simulation game “Infected,” which has recently gained popularity, has declared its decision to move the game from Ethereum’s Layer-2 network, Base, to the Solana blockchain.
This announcement was posted on the game’s X account.
Developers stated that Base’s inability to handle transaction volumes during the game’s launch, alongside broader concerns about the scaling capabilities of EVM-based blockchains, led to this change.
Launch Demand Caused Transaction Problems on Base
The Infected team stated, “Infected crashed Base,” about the game’s launch period that quickly drew 130,000 sign-ups within 48 hours.
This rapid influx of users caused a surge in gas fees and unsuccessful transactions, particularly in the first 30 minutes after launch.
Developers explained this issue significantly hurt the game’s initial progress and player experience.
They noted that numerous users could not participate and subsequently stopped playing the game. The game operates on a 7-day cycle and relies on immediate user interaction, making launch stability important.
EVM Chain Scalability a Wider Issue
While the developers acknowledged the problems were not isolated to Base, they presented them as part of a more extensive, persistent limitation affecting all EVM-compatible chains.
Despite previous beliefs in Layer 2 solutions for Ethereum scaling, the team now considers these bottlenecks to be fundamental issues unlikely to be resolved soon.
Solana Offers a User Base and a Favorable Ecosystem
The shift to Solana also resulted from perceived advantages in user base and ecosystem culture.
The developers contrasted Ethereum’s ecosystem, seen as technically focused and builder-centric, with Solana’s more user-oriented approach.
They stated that Solana’s developer community better aligns with current consumer behavior, pointing to the success of Solana-based applications like Pump.fun and DAOs.fun as examples.
User feedback also influenced the decision.
The Infected team reported many players asked for a Solana version to avoid bridging assets.
They stated, “If users are on XRP, we would go to XRP.
If the user base was on the Bitcoin Mainnet, we would go there. But current users are on Solana.”
The team added that future games would also launch on Solana, based on their assessment of it as the best infrastructure for high-volume, user-facing applications.
Base Head Responds to “Crash” Claim
Jesse Pollak, head of Base and Coinbase Wallet, responded to Infected’s announcement.
While respecting developer choice of platform, Pollak clarified what he considered factual inaccuracies.
“Base did not crash – the chain operated normally.”
He wrote that the technical problems during Infected’s launch were related to frontend issues, which the game’s team had supposedly recognized and discussed with Base before.
The Infected team refuted this claim.
Pollak added that Base representatives contacted Infected immediately following their migration announcement but have received no reply.
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