S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will no longer have NFTs, as GSC Game World cancel plans amid backlash
The greedy ending
Update: GSC Game World have announced on Twitter that they're cancelling plans for NFTs in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
"Based on feedback we received, we've made a decision to cancel anything NFT-related in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2," reads the post. "The interests of our fans and players are the top priority for the team. We're making this game for you to enjoy - whatever the cost is. If you care, we care too."
The cancellation of NFTs arrived an hour or so after the official Stalker Twitter account tweeted a much longer image aiming to explain their decision to include blockchain technology. In that post, they apologised for "yesterday's miscommunication", but said that GSC Game World is an independent studio and that all money made from NFT sales would be "spent on improving the long-awaited game." This tweet was deleted within minutes of being posted, however, and the cancellation followed.
Good.
Original story:The original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. had several endings, and here is a spoiler for one of them: if you spend your time in the Zone stuffing money into your pockets, you'll get the "greedy" ending. The protagonist asks the legendary 'Wish Granter' to be rich and immediately sees gold coins rain upon them; except, it's not gold coins, but a collapsing ceiling. Your greed destroys you.
Making the same point with rather more brevity, Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl will have NFTs.
GSC Game World announced the "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. metaverse", which will allow players to own in-game items as NFTs. This includes what GSC refer to as the ability to "become the first metahuman" - effectively the ability to appear as an NPC in the game.
Their website refers to this as initiating "our Metaversial bridge", which will offer three players the ability to appear as an NPC. "Whether this will be a bartender, a comrade, or an enemy, the NFT owner will be there for everyone to see. A Metaversial bridge, photogrammetry technology, high fidelity facial animation with personal mimics brings new digital era and unique meta experience you've never had before."
The official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Twitter account tweeted to say that it "is not a blockchain-based game", that the NFTs have no inlfuence on gameplay, and are "completely optional." There will be free giveaways of the NFTs for community members.
In an emailed statement sent to The Verge, GSC Game World CEO Evgeniy Grygorovych explained more of how the process of appearing in-game will work.
The idea of the related NFT is to give the right to recreate its owner’s identity within the game through one of the NPCs. The person will need to come to our studio for a detailed scanning procedure and after that, we will have everything to make this person appear in the game world as one of the characters.
There will be other NFTs other than the three metahumans, too.
The involvement of the blockchain in games has been gathering steam over the past few months. The CEOs of Ubisoft, Take-Two and Electronic Arts all expressed interest in the tech. Ubisoft were the first dive in with Ubisoft Quartz and three NFTs for Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. In the past week, Peter Molyneux has joined in, selling £40 million in NFTs for his unreleased game Legacy. Everything is terrible and I hope the Wish Granter wipes it all out in another ironic twist.