It looks like the largest companies in gaming are finally getting the message when it comes to NFTs. Probably, they were sucking.
During EA’s Q3-202, CEO Andrew Wilson had a very different tone when discussing NFTs than he had just a few little months ago. In November of last year, Wilson called NFTs “the future of our industry”, but yesterday he seemed to turn down the contentious collectible technology on the cloud.
Related: If Only There’s A Way For Game Companies To Know NFTs Were Not Found Before the Backlash.
“I think collectibility will continue to be an important part of our industry in games and the experiences we offer our players. Whether that isn’t on the NFT and the Blockchain or not, that remains to be seen, said Wilson (via PC Gamer). And because of the way we think about it, we want to deliver the best player experience that we can offer, and we’ll evaluate it up to time. But at this point, not something we’re driving at risk.”
There was similar logic in the call. NFTs should help with some of the key metrics to collectibility. These include quality, scarcity, authenticity and perceived value. However, it seems like NFTs have only increased scarcity without adding authentic value or perceived value.
In fact, it’s very clear that NFTs hurt much more than they helped. All NFTs are backed by a crypto blockchain which requires constant power to keep a strong cynical value; then until we become fully green power networks, power often comes from the burning of fossil fuels.
As for the environment, there is little reason for gamers to play NFTs. They don’t make a store, or collect, as they have already. Because NFTs can’t be transferred between games Ready Player One style, there’s no real purpose in the gaming space.
NFTs would be foolish enough if only those two points were true, but the NFTs are so crowded with scams, theft and speculation that it is all just a giant mess. Some developers hate them for these reasons, and the blowback against anyone who announces an NFT project has been swift and grave.
EA is probably making the right move by backing away from NFTs. They got enough.
