"Gaming" NFTs, a dedicated thread

[L-Dog]

All this waffle. Anybody actually bought gaming related NFT here on myBB?

I have bought a duskbreaker on opensea, Kevin Lin who is one of the co-founders of Twitch is part of the team so don't think he would risk his reputation. I got in early so had 5 and sold 4 for a good profit so just holding 1 long term to see where it goes.

DuskBreakers - A Sci-Fi Saga

duskbreakers.gg

 

[Fulcrum29]

Opinion: Defending NFTs in Video Games

As NFTs get more popular, more people also dislike them – so I’ve written up a counter-argument defending NFTs in video games.

nichegamer.com

Understanding the Debate Surrounding NFTs and Gaming​

The way I see it, there are three sides:

• Optimists: This side of the debate is made up of techbros with utopian visions of the future, entrepreneurs who want to make bank, and a rogue’s gallery of scammers, hackers, and criminals— as well as their unfortunate victims who buy into the hype because of FOMO. And me!
• Pessimists: This side is full of environmental activists, consumer rights advocates, anti-capitalists, and people who dislike the current crypto community for their many speculative, exploitative, and outright criminal practices.
• Neutral: This side is made up of people who don’t fully understand the technology, don’t really care about it, and/or are sick of hearing about it— unless there’s an opportunity to dunk on someone else. If you’re one of these people, this op-ed is for you.

 

[Fulcrum29]

I like how the Niche Gamer author listed anti-capitalists as pessimists, when the strongest NFT argument is driven on inclusiveness and sharing. As Mike Shinoda concluded,

I think the bottom line is, I urge creators out there: pay attention to the comments in these threads. If you’re going to work with NFTs, you have to give, not take. You are working against a headwind. It will take a lot of work to impress them with something great.

Clearly many, and I mean many, people have their own respective views.

I see Shinoda have a debate with Xavier on Thursday,

https://twitter.com/x/status/1480702917904461824

 

[Fulcrum29]

So, The Niche Gamer article,

The Optimistic Case for Defending NFTs in Video Games​

The way I see it, NFTs in gaming could be beneficial for all parties in the video game industry. Even in their current state, there are immediate benefits for both game players and game creators.

For Game Publishers​

Consider Digital Rights Management. It’s controversial but extremely important for AAA game companies that need to guarantee a return on their multi-million dollar investments. The most ubiquitous form of DRM right now is Denuvo, which is bloated, error-prone, and universally hated among gamers. Also, it hasn’t really stopped anyone from pirating games— it just kind of slows them down.

The solution is simple: everyone who owns a legal copy of the game is given an NFT. Each time the game launches, it checks the blockchain to confirm the user has a valid token; if they don’t, the game won’t start. There are limitations to this, since it still requires an always online connection, but it’s leaps and bounds better than current forms of DRM.

DRMs like Denuvo has evolved more into anti-cheat mechanics that managing the rights. Epic, Steam, Ubi Connect, Origin, Battle.net, etc, all have their own DRM implemented into their respective game launchers. Obviously, selling on the blockchain would remove these 'gatekeepers', but gas still needs to be charged with every transaction, and needs to be listed where applicable. An argument is being made to solve issues where there aren't real issues other than Denuvo having a bad reputation.

All the other points being made, how it will advantage game designers and gamers, are already being done by the above-mentioned online marketplaces. Not to mention, Steam pioneered this marketplace, but Steam don't use the blockchain.

Gas... and the like,

As the NFT Marketplace Heats Up, Let's Focus on Gas Prices

I'm excited to see what a Coinbase offers, but there's a catch for investors looking to pocket some coin.

realmoney.thestreet.com

There is a reason I used quotation markets around the 24/7. Folks new to trading or in the NFT space are learning what a zero-bid market feels like. But NFTs bring the twist of gas prices. As I've mentioned before, think of gas like old school stock commissions; however, the prices can change -- not based on what you are buying but on how active the overall market is at the time. For instance, you could look to buy something around .05 ETH/Ethereum (or roughly $187.50) and the gas might be .015 ETH ($56.25) at 8 a.m. EST. If you check back later on the same NFT still listed at .05 ETH, there's a chance you could have to pay .5 ETH or even one ETH ($1,875 to $3,750) to purchase the exact same NFT you passed on earlier. While this is extreme and usually short-term in nature, it can create a scenario where the gas fees remain elevated for long periods of time. While they won't stay at one ETH or .5 ETH, they can stay in the .03 ETH to .05 ETH range. That means the gas fee can add 50% to 100% to your costs.

so discounts would be more like waiting on the gas to drop. Are there any mitigation being planned to remedy high gas costs?

 

[Fulcrum29]

I have bought a duskbreaker on opensea, Kevin Lin who is one of the co-founders of Twitch is part of the team so don't think he would risk his reputation. I got in early so had 5 and sold 4 for a good profit so just holding 1 long term to see where it goes.

DuskBreakers - A Sci-Fi Saga

duskbreakers.gg

Those look cool, but it seems more to be a product to speculate with than to incorporate into gaming.

 

[L-Dog]

Those look cool, but it seems more to be a product to speculate with than to incorporate into gaming.

Agreed, lots if not all the NFTS are terrible there is no way they can complete with a big studios. Hopefully there will be a cool fun game on mobile or tablet you can play while wasting time and making a but of money but no one is going to compete with Call of Duty, Halo, Forza etc

 

[Fulcrum29]

Not gaming related, but here we go,

https://www.facebook.com/ASRockInfo/posts/10161606017453502

 

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Sponsored article by ENGN,

Gamers are ready for NFTs, whether they know it or not

The most exciting aspect of NFTs has nothing to do with individual assets but relates to wide utility within an evolving digital landscape.

venturebeat.com

Gamers are ready for NFTs, whether they know it or not​

...

Interoperability is key​

As Web3-enabled gaming expands, rewarding players adequately for their playtime and investments within virtual economies will become critical to success. We have seen plenty of examples of inadequate gaming reward systems contributing to the downfall of titles.

It’s just as important to get these reward systems right in NFT games. It comes with additional challenges — as Valve found with Artifact, balancing non-cosmetic items is a fraught endeavor that impacts users’ wallets with every lever pulled.

But there are also advantages: smart contracts enable trustless systems, and most of the cut that would’ve been claimed by a middle-man can be given to the players. This is play-to-earn, and one of the early experiments helped poorer folks in the Philippines get through the pandemic. Finally we’re acknowledging the value non-paying players provide to a multiplayer game, and this formula will improve over time.

The way we see it, ensuring that value is cross-chain compatible will be essential, as no one metaverse will remain competitive if siloed from the others. The creation of a shared item and loot universe across games dramatically improves the value gamers derive from their virtual investments. This is akin to the advent of cross-continent navigation, something taken for granted today. The new trade routes between Europe and Asia connected the formerly siloed regions, generating greater wealth for all sides. The same will happen when blockchains and game universes are bridged.

In addition, fan tokens and creator economies will create new methods of engagement and fairer forms of compensation for those influencers and communities which have flourished on platforms like Twitch, Reddit, and Discord.

As is normal, most of the experimentation will happen in the indie space, which we enable with developer tools at Enjin. The results of these experiments will filter upwards as the more risk-averse, regulation-conscious triple-A space starts to dip its toes. Ubisoft is showing early initiative with Quartz, though it’s a toe-dip, and the reaction is reminiscent of the Xbox One backlash mentioned above. This is a triple-A using a key franchise to begin giving marketplace control back to the players, and that’s a positive step.

It is now not only possible to envision a global gaming ecosystem that places blockchain at the core of a more involved, rewarding, and connected experience — we’re already seeing it come to life before our eyes.

Witek Radomski is Co-founder & CTO at Enjin, where he oversees the company’s technical engineering, product vision, and development. Witek wrote the code for one of the first-ever NFTs in 2017 and is the author of ERC-1155, a groundbreaking Ethereum token standard that enables developers to deploy both fungible and non-fungible items in a single smart contract.

Yeah, okay, trustless systems are real, but it doesn't remove trust, all agreements are still based on trust. I am not going to argue the legalities here and why we do have trust to begin with, but the argument above being made,

But there are also advantages: smart contracts enable trustless systems, and most of the cut that would’ve been claimed by a middle-man can be given to the players.

"most" being the keyword. The proponents' argument is to remove the middleman, not to minimise, to remove the alleged gatekeepers as a whole. That what is being punted is still by large the business model already being used by Valve with the Steam Marketplace, but I like how one Valve game is being mentioned, but no other community contribution related to Valve.

I am not anti-blockchain, neither am I anti-NFT, but the punters have to be realistic and promote it as competition to the Steam Marketplace. Radomski is right, experimentation will happen in the indie space as it already did, but hey, Ubi launch Quartz, right, and that is ultimately the ecosystem the smaller indie devs would desire, and I am quite sure that some other big corps have their own NFT ecosystems at the ready, incl. Valve, and Epic and EA, and and and... but I don't believe that the blockchain will displace any current ecosystem other than coexisting as a transaction medium.

The 'gas' issue still needs to be solved, being volatile, and what the proponents ignore is law. I am still waiting on a NFT dispute to reach a 'traditional' court, there is no 'smart' court, and this needs to be grasped.

In the meantime, please do speculate, there is cash to be made.

 

[Fulcrum29]

NZXT is testing the waters, I see,

https://twitter.com/x/status/1481855121629663234

 

[Fulcrum29]

More and more gaming hardware/peripheral companies are onboarding NFTs. Momentum is rolling.

 

[Fulcrum29]

Oh no, Sega is gatekeeping property rights

Sega files trademark for Sega NFTs

Despite CEO's recent assurance that it wouldn't be pursued if it was "perceived as simple money-making".

www.pcgamer.com

Sega files trademark for Sega NFTs​

Despite CEO's recent assurance that it wouldn't be pursued if it was "perceived as simple money-making".

In November 2021, Sega's Q2 results mentioned that the Japanese publisher planned to team up with Microsoft to develop cloud-powered 'super games' as well as making "investment in new fields such as NFT." It didn't take too long for Sega president and CEO Haruki Satomi to sound a more, cautionary note, however, saying "if it is perceived as simple money-making, I would like to make a decision not to proceed."

Today comes the news that Sega filed two trademarks with the Japanese Patent Office in December 2021 for 'Sega NFT' (thanks, VGC). The first says 'Sega NFT' while the second is for the 'Sega Classics NFT Collection.' The latter will probably be similar to what Konami recently did with Castlevania but the bigger question is whether this indicates a wider move on Sega's part.

the trademark is there to protect the property in the NFT space and scope. Just wait, the small players will also want to protect their property in the time to come.

 

[Herr der Verboten]

Sponsored article by ENGN,

Gamers are ready for NFTs, whether they know it or not

The most exciting aspect of NFTs has nothing to do with individual assets but relates to wide utility within an evolving digital landscape.

venturebeat.com

Yeah, okay, trustless systems are real, but it doesn't remove trust, all agreements are still based on trust. I am not going to argue the legalities here and why we do have trust to begin with, but the argument above being made,



"most" being the keyword. The proponents' argument is to remove the middleman, not to minimise, to remove the alleged gatekeepers as a whole. That what is being punted is still by large the business model already being used by Valve with the Steam Marketplace, but I like how one Valve game is being mentioned, but no other community contribution related to Valve.

I am not anti-blockchain, neither am I anti-NFT, but the punters have to be realistic and promote it as competition to the Steam Marketplace. Radomski is right, experimentation will happen in the indie space as it already did, but hey, Ubi launch Quartz, right, and that is ultimately the ecosystem the smaller indie devs would desire, and I am quite sure that some other big corps have their own NFT ecosystems at the ready, incl. Valve, and Epic and EA, and and and... but I don't believe that the blockchain will displace any current ecosystem other than coexisting as a transaction medium.

The 'gas' issue still needs to be solved, being volatile, and what the proponents ignore is law. I am still waiting on a NFT dispute to reach a 'traditional' court, there is no 'smart' court, and this needs to be grasped.

In the meantime, please do speculate, there is cash to be made.

Got to love how we are ready. Perhaps we are ready for 80usd games (early).

 

[Fulcrum29]

Got to love how we are ready. Perhaps we are ready for 80usd games (early).

All I see is a more accessible alternative to already established marketplaces. The Steam marketplace already have everything the NFT proponents are advocating as an advantage, but even in a decentralised system, property rights still exist as instituted by the respective and applicable laws.

People are trying to rewrite the rulebook when they should be writing an alternate play book.

Ignoring the above, NFTs also enable Valve's competition to compete with less resources, but you would still need customers. NFTs, and the blockchain, aren't going to bring the customer’s home.

Since you mentioned the 80 USD AAA titles… Just wait until you have gaming subscription tokens, oh, wait, you would need gas in the tank, right?

 

[Herr der Verboten]

All I see is a more accessible alternative to already established marketplaces. The Steam marketplace already have everything the NFT proponents are advocating as an advantage, but even in a decentralised system, property rights still exist as instituted by the respective and applicable laws.

People are trying to rewrite the rulebook when they should be writing an alternate play book.

Ignoring the above, NFTs also enable Valve's competition to compete with less resources, but you would still need customers. NFTs, and the blockchain, aren't going to bring the customer’s home.

Since you mentioned the 80 USD AAA titles… Just wait until you have gaming subscription tokens, oh, wait, you would need gas in the tank, right?

Diablo Immortal Nfts

 

[Fulcrum29]

I kinda got involved with NFT communities. Almost nobody has a realisable roadmap... Two large communities whom have their minting anytime soon, good promises (yes, a roadmap is an expectation), but noting is deemed deliverable, pending. These NFTs have no utility, at all, but buy in now, and you will, according to the roadmap, receive a utilisable NFT which can be used in the metaverse. What metaverse?

At this time, I am not willing to test the waters with my own money, so I am trying to ‘gamble’ my way into it by participating in community activities. It all at this time really seems to me like some wet dream, and goodness me, the spam and scam you receive on Discord is insane.

I have learned some new things on this mission, and I am curious where it may go, but people who want to stake in NFTs… the moment a new NFT with utility comes into play, your non-utility NFTs will mean squat other than being an early-adoption token or reward. Yes, I know there are tokens with utility, but do be wise. This is common in the start-up NFT games, where there are tokens with no use other than being an image or motion image.

 

[Fulcrum29]

I guess we will soon know how well NFT's in it's alleged legal ringed, but decentralised, blockchain ecosystem will last,

Gaming YouTubers have had their likenesses stolen and sold as NFTs

Gaming YouTubers have had their likenesses stolen and turned into NFTs.

www.eurogamer.net

Gaming YouTubers have had their likenesses stolen and sold as NFTs​

Alanah Pearce, Jim Sterling and Caddicarus have so far been victims.

Gaming YouTubers have had their likenesses stolen and turned into NFTs.

The NFTs cropped up on auction site OpenSea, including an image of the content creator and a unique URL for the cards that's merely the YouTube channel address.

The user StakeTheWeb appears to be making NFTs of influencers across social media, including gaming YouTubers Jim Sterling and Caddicarus who tweeted their disapproval.

...

Not only is this practice theft, creator and writer at Sony Santa Monica Alanah Pearce has had her image used in pornography by a different user on the platform.

"In extremely predictable news I've just been informed that somebody has taken an image of me, that *I* own, added a trademarked porn logo to it, and 'minted' it to sell for profit as an NFT. Naturally, I was not asked for permission," said Pearce on Twitter.

"I cannot wait for the lawsuits".

Shame, I like Pearce and think she makes valuable contributions,

https://twitter.com/x/status/1482699704529870851

whoever did this, has issues.

Opensea's response, which is quoted in the article, I don't believe. They score, all the way, and I am almost certain that Pearce's "Blacked" NFT was removed with Sony's support.

This is going to start in the Gaming NFT world. The game is being hustled, preying on suckers.

 

[Fulcrum29]

More, OT but since this IP has been licensed to use in games,

https://twitter.com/x/status/1482404318347153413

so Spice DAO buy the book on auction, and now claim to have a license to the IP. My view on their three points,

1. The book is already public
2. Lol
3. Yes, this could be allowed, but with limitations

I see Kotaku have an article on this,

Crypto Losers Buy Copy Of Jodorowsky's Dune, Have Played Themselves - Kotaku

Buying the book does not give you the rights to what's in the book

kotaku.com

Crypto Losers Buy Copy Of Jodorowsky's Dune, Have Played Themselves​

Buying the book does not give you the rights to what's in the book​

Earlier today a group calling themselves Spice DAO tweeted that they were the proud owners of an original Jodorowsky’s Dune book, the compendium of concept art and notes that comprised filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s doomed attempts to get a Dune movie made in the 1970s. Spending vastly more than it’s worth, all in an attempted crypto-sham.

...

This is the part where I tell you that Spice DAO is a crypto hustle (there were shenanigans going on with the auction itself that you can read more about on Buzzfeed), using preservation of the book as a lovely excuse for selling $SPICE tokens to people whose only return—aside from the speculative-driven “value” of the token itself—will be a chance to vote on what actually happens with the book.

I think the law should be taught at school. Just the basic principles, perhaps people will then better grasp ownership because the crypto bros are manipulating what is known as property ownership and the right to that property, and people are buying it. Yes, laws aren't universal, but trade should be understood.

I am someone who believes that the patenting and copywriting laws should be overhauled, and should be better accessible by competition, however, I am pro intellectual property though its application should be open to reasonable sharing so that we can advance. The NFT crowd believe that smart contracts take legal precedence. It is insane, they don't understand that contracts are guided by law and hence should be compliant, and easily understood (and yes, this does need work, but it is what it is, and clarity is still an issue).

The more I elaborate about this, the less I want to see this in gaming. It is simply too open to abuse at this time.

 

[DYreX146]

One of my favourite Red Dead Online Youtubers just made a video about Take-Two's recent involvement in the NFT space, which is quite worrying considering that Rockstar have been neglecting RDO in favour of GTA Online because of the revenue it generates and will likely be putting even more aggressive monetization strategies into their games in the future.

 

[Fulcrum29]

What is going on at The Verge? I would have thought that their target audience are NFT supporters and connoisseurs.

Many game developers hate NFTs, too

Developers shared their thoughts in a GDC survey.

www.theverge.com

Many game developers hate NFTs, too​

Developers made their feelings known in the annual GDC survey

NFTs have been a contentious topic in the video game industry as of late. Fans did not respond well to Ubisoft’s NFT plans, and the outcry to NFTs in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl was so vehement that the game’s developers decided to cancel them entirely. But it’s not just video game fans that are skeptical of the new technology; many game developers have similarly strong feelings, according to the Game Developers Conference annual survey, which was released Thursday.

“When asked how they felt about the possibility of cryptocurrency or NFTs in games, a few called it ‘the future of gaming,’” the survey said. “However, a vast majority of respondents spoke out against both practices — noting their potential for scams, overall monetization concerns, and the environmental impact.”

Many quotes directly from developers were scathing. “How this hasn’t been identified as a pyramid scheme is beyond me,” one wrote. “I’d rather not endorse burning a rainforest down to confirm someone ‘owns’ a jpeg,” said another. “Burn ‘em to the ground. Ban everyone involved in them. I work at an NFT company currently and am quitting to get away from it,” said another.

Not all were so critical. One positive response called cryptocurrency / NFTs “the wave of the future.” But according to the survey’s data, 70 percent of respondents said their studio had no interest in NFTs, which could indicate that we won’t see a lot of gaming NFTs in the near future.

The NFT scene is littered with scams, it does take vigilance. Monetization concerns... yes, add transactional costs, like volatile gas costs and royalties open to abuse, though not all NFTs yield royalties. Oh… and the environmental impact argument, yeah, say most who dabbles in trading cryptocurrency or mining 24/7 - More optimisation required.

Studios will adopt NFTs, no stopping NFTs or related blockchain activities. I have an idea that MS is going to up the ante with the metaverse by giving those who want it exactly what they want. The opponents will only have two choices, to Game Pass or not to Game Pass. I know it already, MS is going to make everyone cheer and clap along /NFTALITY.

 

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Interpret: 56% of Xbox, PlayStation, PC users are interested in earning NFTs

A newly released survey from Interpret says that 56% of Xbox, PlayStation, PC users show an interest in earning NFTs vi…

www.gamesindustry.biz

Interpret: 56% of Xbox, PlayStation, PC users are interested in earning NFTs​

In response to survey, analyst says "gamers just want to be able to participate in this new business and engagement model"​

...

[Clarification]: The Good Gamer Group panel was created by Interpret and comprised of 24,000 players; it is intended to represent the overall gaming market, from casual mobile to hardcore PC audiences. The 5,000 member NFT/crypto panel was selected to be representative of that larger panel.

"The only criteria to get into the panel is, they must be aware of what an NFT is," Interpret senior vice president of growth and innovation Jesse Divnich said. "It is important that we have people who don't own or don't like NFTs in the panel. We need to track sentiment over time, talk to them to see what the barriers are, etc." [/Clarification]

Gamers are embracing NFTs, Interpret data finds - Interpret

A study looking at over 1,500 Xbox, PlayStation, and PC gamers shows that 56% are interested in earning NFTs through gaming.

interpret.la