Earlier this week, the developers of the highly-anticipated Xbox 2022 release Stalker 2 announced the game would be implementing NFTs as part of a newly-created "Stalker Metaverse".
GSC Game World CEO Evgeniy Grygorovych at the time explained how "lots of things" had been done improperly in the space, and mentioned how he hoped Stalker 2 would change that. Despite this, fans were not impressed.
In response, the Stalker 2 social account issued a tweet explaining everything in more detail and then deleted it, and now - after even more backlash, the development team has announced the game will no longer include NFTs. Here's the latest update in full via Twitter:
"Dear Stalkers, we hear you. Based on 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. With love, GSC Game World Team."
So, there you have it - Stalker 2 will arrive without NFTs in April next year. Are you back on board? Tell us down below.
Comments 29
Wise decision, after I saw the backlash they got yesterday with people cancelling their pre-order all over the internet. Maybe make a poll first, to see if the fans would like something. Then you wouldn't get burned this much. I don't think many people are gonna re-pre-order after this.
NBA says: this is why we play. Gamers upon seeing this news: this is why we complain.
Good. This is why gamers should always complain.
This should read as NFT's "delayed" for Stalker 2. Once they release the game and the sales start to tail off they will no doubt introduce it. The NFT's introduced by the likes of Ubisoft etc will have calmed the water by then. People are only outraged for a short while. COD and Fifa dominate sales charts for that reason, everyone complains yet people still buy them yearly. This is not a consumer centred move.
If only the fan base of fifa was like this then maybe you'd get a fifa that's actually not a copy paste
It's always good when companies listen.
Whilst I also don't like the idea of NFT's I don't know why it bothers people so much? So what if the game you want to play has NFT's, how does that effect you if your not interested in them? Just carry on playing the game as you intended
@UltimateOtaku91 A few people said the same about horse armour. Look where we are now. MTX filled hell hole. It's a dangerous precedent and a very slippery slope.
@UltimateOtaku91 It's a cancer that will keep spreading
Keep up the pressure. All it takes is for one big game to include them, and people get bored of talking about them, and the floodgates will open.
It's happened every time before with microtransactions, season passes, lootboxes, battle passes, endless tiers of "special editions".
There was pushback when they first came out as it sounded like stupid ways to squeeze more cash out of the customer, but eventually the publishers' greed won out, and there's people who'll defend them and say that the whole industry will collapse if they don't hold you by your ankles and shake.
@themightyant I've played 120 hours of Assassin's Creed Odyssey and not once was I bothered by its MTX. I guess it depends on which game we're talking about, but as long as stuff like MTX and NFTs are optional and unintrusive to the experience, then I'm not bothered by them. I was going to play Stalker 2 regardless if it had NFTs or not.
@BBB Precisely. I'm sure the pocket pain they felt was severe, so they've done some damage control to prevent further losses. Really satisfying X)
@Alan_cartridge_ Honestly, it wouldn't be a surprise. I thought the same thing right after reading the article. You never know, maybe they'll surprise, but it also wouldn't be surprising if they snuck them in later. It wouldn't be the first time. We'll see, but it's at least good news for now.
Good. Create fun games to engage costumers, instead of predatory crap.
Watching the greedy squirm always warms my cockles.
@LtSarge The issue is they aren't normally unintrusive. Content gets carved out, and whole in-game ecomonies get designed around them. And even when the game isn't super scummy, the whole business model is based around exploiting a handful of vulnerable people.
It also mentally trains younger kids to be more receptive to this. We're quite fortunate because we are looking outside in to this, but younger gamers will just be born addicted to this practice.
Especially since covid, and our increased need to be online, I've seriously been considered having an outright ban on F2P games in my house.
@themightyant I complained about horse armour back in the day, and in retrospect, horse armour is benign compared to the things people defend today.
Like, at least horse armour was a single direct transaction. You paid a set amount of money, and got a set piece of content. Compared to RNG lootboxes, or convoluted or timed battle passes, or endless online markets of uninspired cosmetics that exist purely for the money, I'd be happy if horse armour was the worst thing that existed.
@Richnj If a developer intentionally makes an area harder just for the sake of forcing the player to spend money on MTX or NFTs in order to make things easier, then yeah that's bad. But there are games that don't do that and as far as we know, Stalker 2 wasn't like that. Not to mention that it's been in development for half a decade and they were going to implement NFTs now at the tail end of their development. So I don't think it would've had that much of an impact on the core experience.
They tried it and got caught. Might resume my preorder but this is typical of a major developer
@LtSarge Lets take your Assassins Creed Odyssey example. You clearly enjoyed it enough to play for 120+ hours, perhaps because of that you didn't find it a grind. There's nothing wrong with that view.
But many other people thought it was overly long, deliberately grindy and were gated from progressing at their own pace.
They were unsurprised when cynically, AFTER reviews were in, Ubisoft added an XP boost MTX to allow them to play at the pace they wanted.
My point is just because YOUR experience wasn't tainted by MTX, others gamers' was. I also agree AC:O was not as bad, and many games are far worse.
FWIW I play far more like you and these don't bother me AS much personally but i'll fight for my fellow gamer with different opinions and playstyles!
I am now skeptical. Doubt they announced this without developing a framework, so as soon as the game is out and they have that initial wave of sales, and things start to slow down, they likely will reintroduce the garbage. Avoiding it for a year at the very least, got plenty other things to play.
@UltimateOtaku91 it’ll affect everybody regardless of if they buy NFT’s or not. Once games start being designed around NFT’s just like they are Microtransactions now, the issue is everybody’s.
@themightyant
Agreed. It's all predatory, and people with addictive personalities really have issues with this kind of stuff.
It’s always great when publishers and developers listen to the consumer. NFTs don’t bother me if they are handled correctly. Could be a way for companies to pay artists after their creation is over so they can get royalties from the sales. Anything that pays artists what they are worth makes me happy.
@Richnj I'll never forgive horse armour. It was the precedent that started this all MTX BS. But I agree it isn't egregious by today's standards, some may even call it generous compared to $20 helmets, lootboxes and gacha, as it actually did something and wasn't JUST cosmetic. How far have we fallen so fast since.
That is why i'm so against all this. I've been in this hole before and know where it leads.
Aside: Slightly more amusingly I was replaying Skyrim: The Anniversary Editions recently and a blacksmith had an option for horst armour. I thought pettily, "NO I'd rather my horse die than get on that bandwagon" 🤣
Meh, give it time and it'll be back. Remember when ms said "always online", backtracked, and now the devs are doing it instead of a platform. Like when jim ryan said "generations" then started releasing things on ps4/5. Yeah, "companies" don't care about people, just profits.
I swear these companies are beyond tone deaf. It's astounding to me that they had to actually publicy announce this nonsense and recieve massive backlash to figure out it isn't a good idea. The crypto dude bro in management that came up with the ridiculous idea should be fired.
@Microbius "I will still want to scour the fine print before I download it to make sure I am not giving any permission for my Xbox to be used for any blockchain calculations in the background" LOL
This reminded me of when the PS3 launched there was an app called Folding@Home that used the monster Cell processor to do millions of complex calculations when you weren't using it to try and assist in finding solutions to diseases like Alzheimer's, Cancer, Parkinson's and more. It was on PC too but at the time there was something about Cell that made it exceptionally good at these type of calculations.
By the time it was wrapped up 15 million PlayStation 3 owners participated in the program, lending over 100 million computation hours to researchers, and according to the project lead helped them develop a new strategy to fight Alzheimer's.
This is the sort of good we can do when we all come together. Sadly this NFTs in games nonsense is the complete selfish opposite of this.
Post Script: I've just discovered that folding @ home lives on. Might download it! https://foldingathome.org
Yea, this is a great instance of vote with your wallets. However, I think things like NFT are inevitable. Once huge games and huge companies with numerous casual fans endorse it, once companies find a way to make it attractive to the many, it will come.
And just like that, they have my attention again.
I still don’t know what NFTs are 🤷🏻♂️
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...