Gamers Say NFTs Are Sucking Away the Gaming Essence

Crypto & Web 3.0 enthusiasts say NFTs are the future of gaming, but game players are singing a different tune.

The last four years in the gaming world have been rife with disruptive developments. As a serial entrepreneur, Gary Vee predicted in 2010, NFTs are now an existential reality and the trendiest buzzword in the ever-growing world of digital escapism. Simply put NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique, non-interchangeable units of data stored on a blockchain. In crypto o NFT games these can be in-game upgrades or collectibles that can be exchanged on the blockchain and verified for ownership authenticity. Think of them like Pokémon cards in the 90s that are rare and command thousands of dollars today. Microtransactions, n-game purchases of virtual items, the current free-to-play gaming business model, is designed to put money back into the hands of the developers and have been around since forever (in gaming years). The emergence of blockchain tech and the proliferation of NFTs has pushed game publishers profiteering to a whole new Web3 frontier.

Traditional game publishers don't want to be left out of the NFT gold rush!

Blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, and Splinterlands have popularized NFTs so much so that traditional publishers such as Ubisoft, SEGA, and Square Enix want to get in on an industry that brought in [$4.8 billion in gaming-related revenue](https://Gamers say NFTs are sucking away the gaming essence) in Q3 2021. Gamers worldwide are polarized over who stands to gain in this NFT-mania.

Gamers say NFTs are sucking away the gaming essence

Antagonists are vitriolic on Reddit and Discord, positing that game collectibles such as clothing and weapons for characters elicit a negative reaction from players who feel they are a money-making ploy, which dulls gamers' experience, and erodes their trust. To them, "non-fungible tokens" is a sophisticated phrase that solves no real-world problems for which rich snobs are willing to invest to fleece ordinary folks.

“There is also a case for the environmental impact of crypto mining, the incessant scams, and the frustration of seeing one more warped JPEG monkey again.” Gamers Everywhere

Many games that deploy NFTs are built around an economy where a player can trade digital items that can be used in other blockchain games. Consequently, the player is stimulated to make money instead of having a good time. Making bank comes first; gameplay and immersiveness are secondary.

Publishers say gamers "just don't get it."

In their defense, publishers claim that NFT creation is not inspired by profit-making; instead, it's the next wave of value creation in gaming. Renowned game developers are experimenting with play-to-earn and NFT features in 2022, following in Ubisoft's footsteps despite the outrage that met the release of Ubisoft Quartz and its NFT rollout, Digits. Responding to the backlash, Ubisoft Executive Nicholas Pouard says embracing NFTs is a "matter of personal choice" for gamers who "at no point" are coerced to use them.

Future outlook of NFTs, Gaming and Web3

Companies carrying on with NFT programs despite backlash from their community risk getting their games abandoned altogether. "There are a lot of bad actors in the crypto and blockchain space,” say many gamers and critics. "Players are wary of getting entangled with environmental violators and money launderers."

Outside the gaming realm, many crypto and NFT enthusiasts believe that the billion-dollar gaming market could be a major catalyst for the adoption of Web 3.0 - the next big internet iteration after Web 2.0 (Social Media) that will be decentralized and powered by the blockchain. A slew of gamers call Discord home, and breaking their resistance to in-game artwork is a huge step towards Web 3's emergence.

Just as Henry Ford and Rockefeller blocked the growth of the first electric car with cheaper cars and gasoline in the early 1900s - only for Tesla Motors to lead the 21st-century green energy car race - there will always be initial resistance to innovation. Eventually, hardline stances will wane, and these anti-NFT arguments may become relics that the next generation of gamers would chuckle at. We are all creatures of comparison, communication, conceitedness, and community. All innovations and styles are valuable insofar as the next guy acknowledges them.

To the developers, one thing is clear: if your audience is NFT averse, offer it as an unheralded option without aggressive marketing, or remove it entirely. Hold Q and A sessions to address their fears. Interact more (NFT giveaway, anyone?). If your fanbase is NFT-friendly, and you want to stand out from the crowd, give them an enthralling game experience.

"To attract gamers, blockchain games have to provide compelling experiences around true ownership of assets and all the rest. So when suggesting that the problem with blockchain games is blockchain, it's not a call to see it removed from the equation. Simply that it should never overshadow the actual game." Jack Martin, Cointelegraph

Obtrusive or not, time will tell if cosmetic NFTs will attain widespread acceptance in the gaming community. For relatively unknown studios like GSC Game World, who have already removed their NFTs for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 following fan outcry, they'll need more work on their gameplay and character mix before annoying their fans with NFTs. OG game-heads, on their part, should remind aggrieved new schoolers that there was a time when a paid horse armor was ostentatious.

Audrey Nesbitt