The cryptocurrency, non-fungible token, and blockchain craze over the past year threatens to overwhelm all of us, and it hasn’t spared the gaming industry either.
From G2 Esports’ Samurai Army NFT drop to Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s Aspirants Mystery Box NFT collection, game publishers and esports organizations haven’t been above hopping onto the trend.
But as it turns out, that enthusiasm may not be shared by the developers who are making games. In a survey run by the Game Developers Conference, titled the State Of The Game Industry 2022, developers made clear their thoughts on the topic in no uncertain terms.
Developers aren’t interested in cryptocurrency and NFTs
Screenshot by Koh Wanzi/ONE Esports
72 percent of respondents said that their studio was “not interested” in cryptocurrency as a payment tool, compared to a meager 6 percent who said they were “very interested”.
- Atari is launching a video game cryptocurrency
- The Aspirants Mystery Box is MLBB’s first dive into the NFT craze
The numbers were similar for a question about NFTs. 70 percent said that their studio was “not interested”, while just 7 percent indicated that they were “very interested”
If that isn’t already a resounding rejection of cryptocurrency and NFTs, I don’t know what is. GDC even asked developers for their thoughts and published them anonymously. While one cryptocurrency evangelist called it “the wave of the future”, another skeptic shut it down as a “pyramid scheme”.
“I’d rather not endorse burning a rainforest down to confirm someone ‘owns’ a jpeg,” said another, referencing the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining.
Overall, developers were concerned about the potential for scams, money laundering, the environmental impact, and how the tech would be monetized.
A lot of the arguments for NFTs in games also don’t really hold up under close scrutiny.
And while some say that NFTs can use the blockchain to verify unique items in-game and allow them to carry over between titltes, it’s incredibly hard to make items work in different games. Indie developer Rami Ismail wrote an extensive Twitter thread explaining exactly why.
The question now is – what’s going to happen when studio executives ask these developers to implement blockchain tech or NFTs in their games, or accept cryptocurrency as payment?
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