Yesterday, the devs at GSC Game World announced that STALKER 2 would have NFTs. Today, after intense backlash, they have announced that STALKER 2 will not have NFTs. The announcement comes in tweet posted just one hour after the devs previously took to Twitter defending their use of blockchain tech.
“We hear you,” the STALKER 2 devs say in a tweet. “Based on the feedback we received, we’ve made a decision to cancel anything NFT-related in STALKER 2. 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.”
In the previous, now-deleted, tweet, GSC Game World said that STALKER 2 is “truly the biggest and the most complex game we ever created. All the funds that we earn during the development process (including the potential income from NFT) will be spent on improving the long-awaited game to make it even better.”
STALKER 2 would not have had blockchain tech, even in the original NFT plan. Instead, the idea was that players would bid on tokens outside of the game. At some point prior to the game’s release, whoever held those tokens would get a cameo in STALKER 2. Even as the devs defended this use of NFTs as “completely optional”, players were vociferous in calling for their removal.
— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) December 16, 2021
This leaves Ubisoft Quartz as the only major gaming push into NFT snake oil. Whether more developers will risk player ire with future NFT efforts remains to be seen. The STALKER 2 release date is set for April 28, 2022.