So, what is an NFT? It stands for Non-Fungible Token and it’s kind of a digital good. Unlike how two five-dollar bills can be swapped equally, two NFTs can’t be swapped like for like and ownership of each NFT is stored on the ‘blockchain’, a publicly accessible and decentralized database. NFTs and cryptocurrencies have slowly been entering the gaming space – and we wanted to see what gamers had to say about it. The results spoke for themselves, and it’s very clear that most gamers don’t want NFTs brought into mainstream gaming. After surveying 2,000 gamers from around the world, we discovered that over two thirds (69%) of gamers aren’t a fan of NFTs and said they hated them. The old saying that people are wary of what they don’t understand is still true. Of the 69% that hate NFTs, only 12% said they fully understood what they are, so it is no surprise people don’t want them included. We were intrigued to see why so many gamers hate them, and the data showed that:
Over three quarters (86%) agreed that it’s because of the changes that are happening in the gaming space as a result of crypto gaming and NFTs. Plus half of the gamers (51%) surveyed also said the uncertainty of the financial outcome worries them about their inclusion in games. Interestingly, 3% admitted to owning an NFT at one point and only half of those still currently own at least one.
Of those who no longer own their NFT, they shared with us that they believed it to be a waste of time and they didn’t really understand what it was they were getting into. Of those gamers that did invest in NFTs, less than 1% said they made a profit from the buying and selling of their NFTs, and found the overall experience complicated and wouldn’t try it again. One gamer said that after the whole ordeal of buying and selling they would “never touch anything crypto-related in the future”. With so few gamers understanding what a Non-Fungible Token is, and that those brave enough to give them a go have ended up having a bad experience with it, it seems that the day of the NFT is still a long ways away. But which developers are using NFTs in mainstream gaming? Ubisoft, the game developer that brought us the iconic Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancey’s Rainbow Six franchises, started to dabble in crypto gaming by creating ‘Ubisoft Quartz’ in December of 2021. The new system allowed gamers to buy a limited amount of in-game skins and items. What hasn’t quite hit the mainstream yet is crypto gaming. This is also known as a blockchain game, or can be coined by the phrases GameFi or ‘pay-to-play’. It has been a growing space since 2017, when the world’s first-known crypto game ‘CryptoKitties’ was launched. Although this space divides many gamers and gaming influencers alike, since ‘CryptoKitties’ hundreds of crypto games have been launched, with in-game purchases made using cryptocurrencies and many of the in-game purchases including NFTs. The most expensive purchase in a crypto game was for a digital yacht called the Metaflower Super Mega Yacht, that sold for a staggering $650,000 — enough to buy a real yacht. The Metaflower Super Mega Yacht can be used in The Sandbox, an open world crypto game for windows and mobile devices. Only time will tell if NFTs in mainstream gaming will grow beyond limited in-game purchases on big title games. Maybe they’ll become the norm, or perhaps they’ll fade away like a forgotten fad.
