Telegram Tap-to-Earn Game ‘Captain Tsubasa: Rivals’ Reveals Token Plans

After players spent the last couple months racking up millions of in-game soccer balls, the developers of Captain Tsubasa: Rivals—a tap-to-earn game on Telegram—announced first details this week about the planned crypto token attached to the game.

Captain Tsubasa: Rivals will launch a token called JOHN, which “inspired by the adorable dog of our legendary goalkeeper Wakabayashi,” per an official announcement. “With his signature eyebrows, JOHN is here to bring even more excitement to your journey.”

No timeline has been set for the token launch, but based on the Telegram mini app’s airdrop page, it appears that the token will likely be deployed on The Open Network (TON), the network used by most prominent Telegram games. That’s because you can connect a TON wallet ahead of the future drop.

Captain Tsubasa: Rivals is based on a long-running Japanese anime and manga franchise about a soccer team. The game plays much like Telegram smash Hamster Kombat, albeit with a sports theme, as you tap the screen to earn digital balls and also upgrade key features of your team and organization to earn passive in-game income.

That progress will help determine how many tokens eligible players receive in the future JOHN airdrop. According to the game, factors that will play into allotments include total accumulated balls, unlocked players and their levels, unlocked “Comic Cuts” cards, how many tasks you’ve completed, how many friends you’ve invited, and whether you’re subscribed to the game’s official Telegram channel.

Captain Tsubasa: Rivals has also launched an in-game currency called Rivals Coins, which can be earned during a one-week event that ends on December 4. The game has teased that these will also play into airdrop allocations.

The game has seen substantial additional interest since the token was first announced this week, with the number of Telegram channel subscribers more than doubling in the last two days. The number of monthly active players has similarly spiked, reaching nearly 4.5 million as of this writing, according to Telegram data.