Outraged gamers have left negative reviews of Storybook Brawl on Steam fearing potential non-fungible token (NFT) and blockchain integrations following the acquisition of its developers, Good Luck Games, by cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Storybook Brawl is a free auto-battle card game which was released on the Steam online gaming platform in mid-2021. The game’s review history showed overwhelming support as of March 22, the exact day FTX US announced its acquisition.
The game has since gone into an “overwhelmingly negative” state; 600 of the last 761 reviews were negative. While it’s possible for anyone who hasn’t played the game to leave a review because it doesn’t require a purchase, many of the reviews are from players who have spent a lot of time in the game.
“We do not support NFTs in this house. Tragic end to a great auto battle card game,” Steam user asnugglekitten wrote., who has accumulated more than 130 hours in the game. Another player named King Bear, who has racked up over 60 hours, wrote:
“Good Luck Games was acquired by FTX, a cryptocurrency company, as a way to ‘help crypto break through to gamers.’ I don’t want to be a part of that and I don’t want crypto to ‘make inroads’ on the things I care about. Uninstalled.”
As part of the acquisition, Storybook Brawl will be integrated into FTX US’ blockchain gaming unit. FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried outlined the firm’s overall plans to ethically integrate “gaming and cryptocurrency transactions in a way that has not yet been done in this space.”
On March 23, Good Luck Games founder Matt Place also noted that it was good news for the player and the company as they finally had the funding to take the game to triple-A level.
It may not do much to calm the concerns of the strong number of crypto-skeptic players, but Place also noted that FTX US has not made it a requirement that blockchain technology be integrated into the game:
“We are going to explore blockchain technology […] how can we take advantage of it to create value, to create fun for the players. When we find it, we’ll put it in the game, and if we don’t, we don’t have a mandate to do it.”
Although NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain have been widely adopted by artists and gamers alike, there are still a large number of skeptics in both communities.
The main sticking points for many anti-crypto players often revolve around perceived scams, money hoarding, and the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies, even though there are more energy-efficient blockchain solutions for gaming than proof-of-work chains.
Until now, many games and traditional companies have been the most affected by the possible integrationssuch as Ubisoft, Discord, a popular social media platform among gamers, Electronic Arts, and Worms developers Team17.
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