Axie Classic Season 16: last official season before community handoff

Sky Mavis opens Axie Classic Competitive Season 16 on August 12, 2026 as the last official competitive season under studio leadership. The Season Leaderboard runs through September 2; Mini Tournaments run through September 10. After that window, reporting says Sky Mavis will pause regular competitive seasons, halt active feature development, and remove Classic quests from the daily Bounty Board, with direction handed to the community.

Background

Axie Classic is the original card-battler that defined early play-to-earn for millions of players. Sky Mavis still runs a wider Axie slate on Ronin: Axie Infinity: Origins as the main live battler, land play through Terrariums, and the upcoming MMO Atia’s Legacy.

Competitive Circuit 2 already framed Seasons 13–16 as a closed arc ending in a Classic Champions Invitational, per the Season 13 Lunacian post (opens in new tab). Season 16 is the final official push in that structure.

What happened

Season 16 schedule (official window)

BitPinas (opens in new tab) summarized the Axie Infinity Season 16 update on X (August 10, 2026) (opens in new tab):

Season 16 feeds two qualification slots into the Classic Champions Invitational, which carries a 5,000 bAXS prize pool in the same reporting. BitPinas notes that Season 15 Champion Chan and Arena Leaderboard runner-up JL already hold invites, with the remaining Season 15 spot passed to runner-up Eshaz, leaving two Season 16 slots still open.

What ends after Season 16

Per BitPinas (opens in new tab), once Season 16 concludes Sky Mavis intends to:

• Pause regular competitive seasons for Classic
• Halt active feature development under the current studio structure
• Remove Classic quests from the daily Bounty Board

The studio plans to hand direction, tournament organization, and future development to the community. Exact governance, tooling, and reward structures were still being finalized at the time of that report. Treat those details as TBA until Sky Mavis or Axie publishes a follow-up.

Franchise context (not shutting down)

While Classic’s studio-backed competitive loop winds down, BitPinas notes continued investment elsewhere:

• Origins Season 18 with an Elite 4 tournament format and a prize pool of roughly 80,000 bAXS
• Terrariums land play after the V1.1 accessories and land-item update (see our Terrariums V1.1 notes)
• Atia’s Legacy moving toward a fourth playtest, also flagged in EGamers.io Lounge coverage (opens in new tab)

Who it affects

Classic competitors and scholars

If you still grind Classic for Bounty Board points or season leaderboards, treat September 10, 2026 as the end of the current official Mini Tournament window and the likely cutoff for studio-backed Classic quests on the Board. After that, expect prize pools and balance feedback to depend on guilds and third-party organizers unless a new official structure ships.

Origins and land players

Origins, Terrariums, and Atia’s Legacy testing are the active Sky Mavis product lines called out in the same coverage. Classic handoff does not by itself pause Origins Season 18 rewards or Terrariums Atia’s Flame loops.

Collectors and AXS / bAXS holders

Season rewards and invitational payouts cited here use bAXS. That does not change how you hold or trade AXS on Ronin. Watch official Axie channels for any post-Season 16 Classic reward rules; do not assume Bounty Board Classic quests continue after removal.

At a glance

On Web3Raider

• Games hub: /games
• NFT hub: /nft
• Blockchain hub: /blockchain
• Spoke: Axie Infinity: Origins
• Spoke: Ronin network · Ronin platform
• Related: Terrariums V1.1, Ronin L2 migration

What to watch next

• Official Axie Infinity (opens in new tab) / Lunacian blog (opens in new tab) posts for Season 16 reward tables and any written community-handoff plan
• Whether Classic remains playable as a client after studio seasons pause (BitPinas frames a competitive/support wind-down, not an automatic client wipe on September 10)
• Origins Season 18 and Atia’s Legacy Playtest 4 schedules on official channels
• Ronin (opens in new tab) ecosystem notices if Bounty Board quest lists change for Classic

Bottom line: If you still compete in Classic, clear Season 16 goals between August 12 and September 10, and assume studio Bounty Board Classic quests and regular seasons do not continue afterward unless Axie publishes a replacement program.