Mike Ybarra, newly appointed head of Blizzard Entertainment, claims that his company will not adopt non-fungible tokens, putting an end to speculation
Blizzard Entertainment President Mike Ybarra has confirmed that the company has no plans to explore non-fungible tokens in a recent tweet.
Last week, plenty of media outlets reported that the American video game company, which is known for such hits as “Overwatch” and “World of Warcraft,” had asked gamers to complete a survey in order to gauge their opinions about emerging trends within the gaming industry, which includes cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Some assumed that the survey indicated that the gaming giant had taken an active interest in crypto.
While NFTs gained tremendous popularity in 2022, they also attracted plenty of critics who are convinced that digital collectibles, which can be effortlessly reproduced, lack practical utility. Naysayers claim that they are simply a means for speculation that is contributing to climate change.
GSC Game World, the Ukrainian video game company behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R, had to drop its NFT project last year after facing strong backlash from the gaming community.
Discord, a group-chatting platform that is popular with gamers, also abandoned its plan to add support for Ethereum and NFTs due to criticism.
Still, there are several high-profile gaming companies that decided to capitalize on the trend. Ubisoft, the French video game developer that has produced such high-profile games as “Assassin’s Creed” and “Far Cry” unveiled a plan to add NFTs to its games last year. In a recent interview, an executive in charge of Ubisoft’s new endeavor complained about gamers’ lack of enthusiasm for NFTs, claiming that they simply do not get them.