UPDATE 12/16/21: Following yesterday’s announcement that Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl would introduce its own blockchain-based “metaverse” flooded with NFTs, developer GSC Game World reversed course in response to significant backlash, confirming that it would cancel all of its previously described NFTs. related plans.
In an article shared by the official Stalker Twitter accountGSC wrote: “We hear you. Based on the feedback we received, we have made the decision to roll back everything NFT related in Stalker 2.”
“The interests of our fans and players are the team’s top priority,” he continued. “We’re making this game so you can enjoy it, no matter the cost. If you care, we care too.”
A growing number of developers and publishers have jumped on the NFT bandwagon in recent months, including Peter Molyneux, studio Dead by Daylight Behavior Interactive and Ubisoft with its new “energy-efficient” Quartz gaming platform, and many more. Others have expressed interest in the technology. All of these companies have drawn plenty of criticism from consumers and industry commentators (and in Ubisoft’s case, even a union representing its own staff), but GSC Game World is one of the first to publicly reverse its plans in the face of an intense crisis. backlash. Time will tell if others feel compelled to do the same.
ORIGINAL STORY 12/15/21: Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl will include NFTs when it releases next year.
Developer GSC Game World has announced that its game will have its own “metaverse” in which players can inhabit as a “metahuman” – an NFT in the form of an NPC.
The game will use “blockchain technology to allow the community to own a piece of Stalker 2” as users sign up to receive in-game items “that will evolve into a new gameplay feature built on Stalker 2.”
GSC Game World partners with NFT platform DMarket on new items.
The first of these drops will be an auction in January 2022 for players to become “the first ever metahuman”, a non-playable character rendered in great detail in the game world. It will likely use the developer’s facial mapping technology.
“The idea of the associated NFT is to give the right to recreate the identity of its owner in the game through one of the NPCs,” said Evgeniy Grygorovych, CEO of GSC Game World, as reported by The edge.
“The person will have to come to our studio for a detailed scanning procedure and after that we will have everything for this person to appear in the game world as one of the characters.”
Other NFTs will be released in the future beyond this “metahuman”, although the company has declined to specify what they might be beyond stating that they will not influence gameplay.
GSC Game World is just the latest developer to explore NFTs, following the lead of Ubisoft, EA and, most recently, Peter Molyneux.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl will be released in April 2022 on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
