TL;DR
- The viral Web3 game “Infected” has abandoned Ethereum’s Base network due to scalability issues and high gas fees during its launch.
- The developers argue that the problem isn’t just Base, it reflects a deeper, fundamental issue with all EVM chains, while Solana offers a smoother, user-focused experience.
- Although Base didn’t technically crash, “Infected” is migrating all future games to Solana, stating that Solana leads in culture and real user adoption.
After a turbulent launch on Ethereum’s Base network, the viral Web3 game “Infected” has officially announced its migration to Solana. The move comes after a surge in activity triggered soaring gas fees that seriously hampered the player experience. While Base did not suffer a technical failure, the “Infected” team insists that EVM-based chains face a structural scalability problem that prevents them from handling viral user demand efficiently.
The situation became critical within the first 30 minutes of launch, when network congestion made it nearly impossible for most players to interact with the game. For a momentum-based title like “Infected,” those first minutes were everything. Shared metrics reveal that daily gas consumption on Base skyrocketed from 43.5 ETH to over 145 ETH in just one day due to the game’s launch.
A Viral Game Demands a Network That Can Keep Up
“Infected” attracted more than 130,000 signups in only 48 hours and gained 50,000 X (formerly Twitter) followers in under two months. But its momentum was crushed by the limitations of Base. This has led the development team to rethink their entire approach—not just regarding Base, but the EVM ecosystem as a whole. In contrast, Solana was praised for its high-speed performance, low fees, and more user-centered development environment.
The team highlighted that Solana developers are focused on building real-world applications for real users, citing platforms like “pump.fun”, “vector.fun”, and several DAO-focused consumer apps as examples. Although they admitted to having doubted Solana in the past, they now see why the network has dominated the Web3 conversation over the last year.
Base Survives, But Loses a Major Project
Base’s project lead Jesse Pollak responded by asserting that the network remained fully functional and that his team had attempted to reach out to the “Infected” developers, who had yet to respond. According to “DeFiLlama” data, Base has actually grown its total value locked (TVL) by 8.3% over the last month, now sitting at $3.05 billion. Meanwhile, Solana saw a 15% TVL drop in the same period but still maintains a strong $6.33 billion.
