Virus Game “Infected” Angers Ethereum Base, Packs Bags for Solana
In a pandemic simulation game that spread like wildfire, “Infected” announced that it would abandon the Ethereum base after turning its launch into a gas fee horror show and opting to move to Solana.
The Infected team stated that the base could not handle the transaction volume, leading to soaring gas fees and player exits amid the mid-game explosion. Base architect Jesse Pollak claimed that the base never crashed. Meanwhile, over the past week, the total value locked (TVL) recorded a drop of about 4%.
Did Base Gas Fees Kill the Infected Hype?
In a post on X, the Infected team claimed that after building solely on Ethereum for the past four years, they would migrate all upcoming games to Solana. They noted that the base could not meet their demands, but emphasized that this was not just a chain issue. It added that this was a fundamental scaling issue across all EVM chains.
The team highlighted that they had tried various consumer applications but eventually narrowed it down to the concept of speculative simulation games. They believe that speculation holds significant potential beyond meme coins, as it is expected to evolve into a larger industry over the next two years.
The Infected game experienced a massive outbreak, gaining 130,000 registrations within 48 hours and 50,000 Twitter followers within two months. However, when they launched on the base, things fell apart. Gas fees spiked, and most players were unable to transact in the crucial first 30 minutes. As this is a momentum-based game, those initial 30 minutes are make-or-break.
We Crashed, Now We’re Moving to Solana
“After building solely on ETH for the past four years, we decided to migrate @InfectedDotFun and all our upcoming games to Solana. There is only one reason for this decision: the base could not handle @InfectedDotFun’s…”
– Infected (@InfectedDotFun) April 3, 2025
According to shared data, the daily gas spent on the pre-infected base (February 23) was 43.515 ETH, while on the first day of being infected, it was 145.850 ETH.
The team believes that L2 scaling has extended ETH, but afterwards, they perceive a fundamental scaling issue with EVM chains that will not be resolved quickly. They expect Solana to win this race in terms of culture and user base.
Base Did Not Crash, But Still Lost
The Infected team praised the ETH community; however, they noted a lack of focus on today’s users due to a long-term and highly technical vision. They pointed out a significant gap between builders and users on EVM.
On one hand, most builders on Ethereum do not know who the users are and what they want. On the other hand, Solana builders focus on actual products and real users. They named popular consumer applications on Solana like Pumpfun, VectorFun, and Daosfun.
The Infected game added that they have been skeptical of Solana for a long time, but now they understand why it has dominated the space over the past year. It stated, “If our users are on XRP, we will build on XRP. If they are on Bitcoin mainnet, we will go there. But today, they are on Solana.”
Jesse Pollak responded to the claims, noting that the core team contacted the Infected team immediately after the post and they have yet to respond. He asserted that the base did not crash and that the chain followed suit.
According to Defillama, Base managed to grow its TVL by 8.3% over the past month. It currently stands at $3.05 billion. Meanwhile, Solana’s TVL experienced a nearly 15% hit, hovering around $6.33 billion.
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