Press Play to Start: Why do gamers hate NFTs?

Who would’ve thought that we’d have two in-person semesters in a row? After those first two weeks of limbo, certainly not me. Oh well, all’s well that ends well.

While we were all figuring out what might happen to this semester, I slowly got myself re-situated with what was going on in the United States You see, for winter break, I went back to my home country. Between each impromptu family gathering, I barely had the time to keep up to date on all matters.

So imagine my surprise when I found out about NFTs. 

For those of you who somehow haven’t seen pictures of these apes, lions, pixel people or whatever other variation exists out there floating around, let me (try to) explain what NFTs are. 

Basically, they are a form of a
Non-Fungible Token cryptocurrency. They are a form of crypto money, like Bitcoin, attached to a specific image (hence the drawings). No two NFTs share the same image, hence where the non-fungible AKA not replaceable element comes into play. 

I know that this is very complex. Trust me, it took me a while to understand it too. What’s important for us to know is that they are effectively a form of money tied to a specific picture that only one person can own at a time. Oh, and they also sell for exuberant amounts of money. 

Unsurprisingly, the internet is very divided about them. Some hail them as the future of art and media as we know it, while others talk about the various issues they currently have, such as lack of guarantee, environmental cost or use of someone’s art without consent. 

But one community stands almost overwhelmingly against them: the gaming community.

It doesn’t take a detective to find moments where gaming company actors themselves received extreme backlash after their attempts to introduce NFTs. 

“Worms,” a highly loved video game series that populated many people’s childhoods, completely scrapped its NFT project after being bashed on Twitter by fans. Same thing with popular voice actor Troy Baker, who gave up on launching a partnership with an NFT company after his fans showed to be overwhelmingly against it.  

If you don’t play video games yourself, you might be scratching your head right now. Intuitively, shouldn’t gamers be totally on board for NFTs?

I mean, they’re one of the few demographics that actively consume virtual media and constantly hail it as art, right? So what is the issue?

I asked myself those very same questions when I was browsing through Twitter. And then it hit me: loot boxes.

Very briefly, loot boxes are a system implemented in many games where you can attempt to acquire in-game items by spending in-game currency. And, while some games do it totally for free, a great majority of those who implement the system allow the possibility of buying gaming currency with real-life money, turning it from pretend gambling into the real-life thing. Some go as far as making these attainable items an integral part of the game. 

The most important thing about loot boxes, however, is that gamers absolutely hate them. It’s the same thing with other forms of microtransactions and understandably so. After all, they already paid full price for the game, which is often around $60, only to realize that they must spend even more money to properly enjoy it.

Do you see what I’m getting at here?

When gamers see companies trying to introduce NFTs to their games, all these past experiences instantly play in their heads and their reaction is almost an instant and unanimous “No.” 

They are afraid that if they allow just a few NFTs to be incorporated into video games, companies will get the wrong idea and, in the span of a few months, completely saturate their games with these types of items. Most of these saturated games will certainly make the experience less enjoyable for the great majority of the player base.

So how can we fix it?

Well, if we are dead set on integrating NFTs into games, there really only is one option: Meet your community halfway. The reality is most gamers are simply too distrustful of gaming companies and NFTs in general to give them a try. So as a company, your job is to understand these concerns and, at the same time, shape your product so that people are more likely to consume it.

Take for example 100 Thieves, a famous esports group. To commemorate their recent win at the largest “League of Legends” tournament in North America, they released a series of free NFTs that anyone can claim, making it explicit that their environmental cost is the same as sending two emails. 

Not only is this not interfering with their fanbase accessing their content, but it also serves as a form of a digital “trophy” to commemorate a significant event for people who follow them. By making them free and explicitly addressing their cost, they also avoid any sort of notion that they are doing this for profit or as a scam.

While this column served more as an investigation into the topic, it is worth noting that this is an actively evolving issue. Who knows, maybe tomorrow, I’ll log onto Twitter and see the majority opinion changed because of one topic. 

However, if we plan on following esports from now on, understanding the role NFTs may play in the industry is essential. After all, knowing most gaming companies, they’ll likely jump at the chance to make some quick bucks. 

If that scenario does become a reality and NFTs are suddenly widespread, I hope the knowledge of this column at least allows you to buy a cool monkey faster than your friends. 

Guilherme Guerreiro is a junior writing about esports. His column, “Press Start to Play,” runs every other Tuesday.