Crypto Enthusiasts Meet Their Match: Angry Gamers

Christian Lantz has played S.T.A.L.K.E.R., a first-person shooter game that became a cult hit for its immersive role playing. He knew he had to buy it when he heard a sequel was coming this year.

The new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. would incorporate the NFTs, a type of token that is based on the internet. The new game allows players to buy and sell NFTs of items like clothing for their in-game characters. The company said the move was a "transformative step" toward the metaverse.

Mr. Lantz was angry. He joined thousands of fans who raged against NFTs in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s sequel. They said the game maker was trying to squeeze more money out of its players. The backlash was so intense that GSC abandoned its NFT plan.

Mr. Lantz said that the studio was abusing its popularity. It is being done for profit instead of creating a beautiful game.

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There is a still from the movie. The maker of the game abandoned a plan to add NFTs.

For more than a year, mania has been going strong. The value of Cryptocurrencies has gone up. NFTs have taken off. Jack Dorsey, a founder of the micro-blogging site, renamed his company Block in honor of the distributed ledger system that powers digital currency. The NFTs that Mrs. Trump auctioned off were her own.

The craze of the digital currency has gone too far. Skeptics argue that cryptocurrencies and related assets are digital Ponzi schemes, with prices artificially inflated beyond their true value. Some people are wondering if cryptocurrencies and the blockchain have any long-term utility.

There has been a lot of unhappiness in the games community, and it's not limited to the major game studios. At least for now, the game players have prevailed in many of the encounters.

The three million subscribers of Mutahar Anas said people are being sold words. He said those pushing NFTs in games are trying to sell you snake oil.

At least half a dozen game studios have said in the last few months that they are considering adding NFTs to their games. The digital assets are verified by the technology. Those that sell the NFTs in online marketplaces can be enriched by that, game makers said. NFTs could be transferred among games in the future, meaning items from one game franchise could affect another.

The players said the moves were a cash grab.

Matt Kee, a 22-year-old gaming enthusiast, took to social media this month to complain about Square Enix pushing into his favorite game, Kingdom Hearts, in order to make more money. I don't see how that benefits the gaming community. It is always about how can I make money off this.

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A still from the game. The company recently said it would push into NFTs.

The encroachment of micro transactions in video games is the root of their resentment. Over the years, game makers have found ways to make users pay to upgrade their characters or play better in the games. If people had already paid $60 or more for a game, they were asked to pay more for digital items like clothing or weapons.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion charged users $2.50 for a set of armor for their character's horse, which is a well-known incident.

Eric Hild, 31, a beer maker from Decorah, Iowa, said that he was wondering why they wouldn't just give him the horse armor. "Why make us pay for something?"

The growing number of micro transactions has led to a build up of antagonism towards the companies by game streamers and editors. She said that when game makers introduced NFTs, players wereprimed to call it out. We have been here before.

The game companies have been rattled by the bursts of outrage. In December, the maker of Sonic the Hedgehog expressed reservations about its plans after negative reactions from users. After announcing a NFT program last month, the company said that it had underestimated how unhappy its customers would be. A video about the move was disliked by more than 90 percent of viewers.

Nicolas Pouard, a vice president of the French company, said that they may have underestimated how strong the backlash would be.

The game companies said their plans were not motivated by profit. NFTs give fans a new way to make money by selling assets, instead of just collecting them.

Matt Wolf, an executive at the mobile game maker, said that it was all about community. We believe in giving people the chance to play.

Over the past few years, the rush to embracecryptocurrencies in games has gathered steam. It was easy for players to collect digital assets and prove they own them when developers began building games on the blockchain. Some of the digital cats sold for more than $100,000 in the hit game, CryptoKitties. The games where players make money by earning and selling NFTs became popular in the pandemic.

Bigger game studios are trying to get in on the action, though some of their plans remain vague.

The first large game publisher to enter the market was Ubisoft. In December, it was announced that it was introducing three sets of NFTs in the form of helmets and guns. For players who reached a certain level in the game, the NFTs were free. The company said that players could keep the items or sell them on third-party markets.

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A Ghost Recon Breakpoint game station is in Los Angeles in 2019.

Even though the first 3,000 NFTs were produced by Ubisoft, 10,000 digital wallet tools have been connected to the Quartz platform. He said that it suggested an appetite for more NFTs in the future.

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There is a glossary. Cryptocurrencies are almost impossible to ignore because they have gone from a curiosity to a viable investment. Let us help you with the terminology.

There is a virtual currency called th digital currency called th digital currency called th digital currency A user can send a digital token to another from anywhere in the world. The name of the payment network on which this form of digital currency is stored and moved is also known as Bitcoins.

There is a system for storing data called the Blockchain. A database that reliably stores digital information is called a aBlockchain. Non-currency-based companies and governments are trying to use the same technology that was used to store all of the Bitcoins.

It is possible to have a currency called corp coin. The first major company to list its shares on a U.S. stock exchange is Coinbase, a platform that allows people and companies to buy and sell various digital currencies.

There is a type of finance called cryptocurrencies. The development of cryptocurrencies spawned a parallel universe of alternative financial services, known as Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, which allowed cryptocurrencies businesses to move into traditional banking territory.

Mr. Pouard said that the company plans to take a cut of future sales. He said that they are moving from a business model focused on just a game to one focused on the entire community.

Mr. Wolf, a games industry veteran, was hired by Zynga to lead a project in November. Mr. Wolf said the goal was to make it easy for players to own and sell NFTs. He did not give any details about how the effort would work.

He said that they were still developing it.

Other game companies are following in the footsteps of other game companies who are following in the footsteps of other game companies who are following in the footsteps of other game companies who are following in the footsteps of other game companies who are following in the footsteps of other game companies who are following in the footsteps Yosuke Matsuda, the president of Square Enix, wrote an open letter this month about the benefits of creating games that use theBlockchain. He said that would become a major strategic theme for the company.

The number of NFT announcements from game studios increased as players became annoyed. One of its executives said in a management meeting last month that if it was perceived as simple moneymaking, they would not proceed. The effort is going on.

Other game companies are against it. In November, Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox, told the website that some games centered on earning money through NFTs appeared "exploitative" and he would not put them in the store. Microsoft did not comment.

Valve, which owns the online game store Steam, updated its rules last fall to prohibit games that allow cryptocurrencies or NFTs to be exchanged. Valve didn't reply to the request for comment.

Tim Sweeney, the chief executive of the company that makes the game, said that the industry is rife with "an intractable mix of scam" and that his company would steer clear of NFTs in its own games. Developers will still be able to sell their games in the online store.

More than just game studios have been affected by the blowback. In November, the messaging platform backtracked after users threatened to cancel their paid subscriptions. The project was teased on the social media platform by the chief executive of the company.

There are a lot of problems and a lot of cool stuff going on in the space, according to Mr. Citron.

Mr. Kee said he would continue to fight game companies. The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developer made him hopeful that other companies could be swayed by public opinion.

He said it gave him a good feeling that everyone is against this. Over the past 10 years, we have seen a lot of these schemes, and we are tired of it.