Apparently unphased by the backlash to current NFT challenge bulletins, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds studio Krafton has introduced that it’s getting into the NFT game. The corporate has signed a take care of Naver Z, the operator of the metaverse platform Zepeto, “to develop a brand new Net 3.0 and non-fungible token (NFT) challenge geared toward constructing an NFT metaverse platform.”
There is not any indication that Krafton’s NFT challenge will likely be tied to PUBG immediately—as an alternative, the corporate will use the expertise it is earned creating and operating PUBG to create a “user-generation content material (UGC) creation software,” in addition to a digital world constructed within the Unreal Engine. Naver Z will “handle the metaverse service,” in accordance with the assertion, and deal with group and social companies.
“This partnership between Krafton and Naver Z is bolstered by every firm’s distinctive experience and shared international focus as they appear towards a future pushed by NFTs and metaverses,” Krafton Net 3.0 crew lead HyungChul Park stated. “By combining Krafton’s present applied sciences and analysis on how one can construct scalable Net 3.0 creator-driven ecosystems with Naver Z and Zepeto’s expertise and capabilities, we’re assured we are able to construct a high-quality UGC-driven open metaverse that stands aside from different companies and vitalizes the worldwide creator financial system by way of NFT applied sciences.”
It is an upbeat however virtually fully baffling assertion that does not truly say something about what Krafton has in thoughts—functionally, it isn’t rather more than doing jazz fingers and shouting “Metaverse!” repeatedly. That could be advantageous at this early juncture, since no person’s fully clear on what the metaverse is anyway (besides, you already know, bullshit), however the danger for Krafton is that it overlooks the rising backlash in opposition to game-adjacent NFTs.
A plan to include NFTs immediately into Stalker 2 was deserted within the wake of extraordinarily destructive suggestions, and extra not too long ago indie writer Team17 scuttled its personal NFT technique within the face of pushback from each players and its personal studios. An much more telling sign got here from Digital Arts final week: After declaring in 2021 that NFTs are “the way forward for our business,” CEO Anrdrew Wilson stated throughout the firm’s Q3 earnings name that the function of NFTs and blockchain expertise “remains to be seen,” and that EA is presently not “driving laborious” on them.
It is doable that Krafton will dodge that bullet. Avid gamers could not care a lot in regards to the firm’s NFT ambitions if the challenge stays fully separate and distinct from PUBG. However the potential of destructive repercussions is an ever-present danger: The NFT house remains to be rife with malfeasance, and as voice actor Troy Baker not too long ago realized, there isn’t a endurance for even the looks of dangerous conduct proper now.
Krafton stated that additional particulars about its NFT partnership with Naver Z will likely be shared “sooner or later.”
