Photo courtesy of the Game Developers Conference
With publishers like Ubisoft dabbling in NFTs and cryptocurrency, it feels inevitable that 2022 will be filled with other companies trying to figure out if the blockchain has anything to offer video games. According to the latest results of the Game Developer Conference’s annual industry survey released today, however, the vast majority of developers have no interest.The results come ahead of the Game Developers Conference being held next month in San Francisco. The event went virtual as the result of COVID, and has become a hybrid event.The survey, which included responses from more than 2,700 people, showed 72 percent of developers and the companies they work for “are not interested” in cryptocurrency. This was matched by 70 percent of respondents showing disinterest in NFTs. By contrast, 27 percent had “somewhat” of an interest in cryptocurrency. NFTs didn’t fare better—just 28 percent. A mere 1 percent of those who responded said they were actively using either technology.
Advertisement
A number of huge gaming companies—Sega, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Electronics Arts—have announced plans to, at least, explore how NFTs and cryptocurrency might work with video games. Those plans have largely been met with hostility from video game fans.The same skepticism was also leveled at the “metaverse,” a similarly hyped buzzword that, at this point, is little more than tech companies creating awkward virtual meeting spaces, or ways for toxic brands like Facebook to find ways to creatively reinvent their public image. The 17 percent surveyed working on projects with metaverse-like elements were developers associated with already popular online games like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft.33 percent said “they believe that the metaverse concept will never deliver on its promise.”Of course, just because the majority of game developers and players are not interested in NFTs doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not going to see them in some games in the future. In many cases, these decisions will be made by game company executives, some of which have told the press and investors that they’re excited about NFTs, the metaverse, cryptocurrency, and other buzzy concepts.Follow Patrick on Twitter. His email is patrick.klepek@vice.com, and available privately on Signal (224-707-1561).If you work at a video game company and your company is getting into NFTs, or thinking about getting NFTs, I want to hear what those conversations are like. My secure email is patrick.klepek@protonmail.com and my Signal number is 224-707-1561.
