Nonfungible tokens and blockchain technology have become a raging topic of interest across the gaming industry currently with its own niche of “play-to-earn” games appearing as well as AAA developers diving into the mix as well.
During an interview with Video Game Chronicle, the PlatinumGames President and CEO Atsushi Inaba criticized the new monetization scheme saying, that he saw “no positive impact on the creators or the users in any sense” and that it had “gained momentum focused on profitability.”
PlatinumGames is best known for producing the popular titles Bayonetta, and Nier: Automata.
NFTs are a type of digital asset that is built on blockchain technology that can represent in-game items that are uniquely tradable and can be exchanged as collectibles. For example, NFTs can be used to create digital trading cards, represent loot items, or cosmetics in video games.
We have covered their use before on Vox Ex Machina, although they weren’t called NFTs at the time. The blockchain-based game God’s Unchained uses virtual trading cards that are traded on the Ethereum blockchain. One of those cards, of “Mythic” rarity called Atlas, sold for $31,000 on Dec. 5, 2019.
Inaba told VGC that one of the biggest issues with NFTs is that the conversation surrounding them seems to be all about profit. It involves nothing else.
“The people who are trying to promote NFTs and partner with gaming companies, their conversations seem extremely one-sided. ‘Hey, you’re going to make money!’” Inaba said. “But how does it benefit the user or the creator? If I want to spend my time on something, I want it to benefit making good games.”
He went on to explain that as content continues to shift to become more digital, NFTs might find their place, but right now early adopters appear to only seek profit and this is steering every conversation. It overshadows anything else.
“That’s not something I’m interested in being part of, to be honest,” Inaba added.
When asked a similar question about why other companies, such as Konami showed interest in NFTs, PlatinumGames Vice President Hideki Kamiya said that he thinks it was also about profit as well.
“It doesn’t have any benefit for users at the moment,” Kamiya said. “In the future, if it’s expanded in a way that has a positive side for users, then maybe I’ll start to be interested in what they do with it.”
The blockchain gaming industry has been using NFTs to produce collectible-style games for two years and it is still gaining tremendous revenues. According to a report from the Blockchain Game Alliance, NFT-based games generated $2.32 billion in revenue during the third quarter of 2021. In comparison, the entire games market for 2021 was estimated at $180 billion by NewZoo.
This has been attracting the attention of AAA gaming outfits including Square-Enix, Ubisoft, EA, and others.
However, it has also come with some backlash from gamers who see NFTs as another form of monetization and have their own concerns about the nature of blockchain technology. Many of them criticize the use as being dangerous for the environment and being rife with potential scams.
As a result, some developers have even backed off of their NFT plans. For example, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 developer GSC Game World quickly backed off their own plans to implement NFTs after fan backlash. However, others, such as Ubisoft, have done the opposite, with the company doubling down on its plans after the criticism from the community.
Image: PlatinumGames
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