Recently Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, company that owns video game titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Read Dead, NBA 2K, and Dragon City, pointed out in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, its skepticism with the words metaverse and blockchain since they do not always end up delivering profits.
“I’m always skeptical about buzzwords because they mean different things to different people and people who invest in buzzwords probably don’t get much of a return. I am not skeptical about huge, interactive, dynamic and entertaining worlds because our company is responsible for at least 3 of them. The Greatest on Earth, Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Redemption Online and then NBA 2K Online and others on the way.”explained the executive.
Likewise, he stressed that people go to digital worlds specifically to be entertained, and pointed out that this should be the main objective of companies that want to develop metaverses, to give a reason for people to want to visit them, “Otherwise your whole world is worthless and will be pure speculation”said.
On the other hand, Zelnick also questioned the companies that believe that using the term metaverse and selling digital land is already doing something positive to attract users. “I think where my skepticism lies is that all companies suddenly believe that by saying the word ‘metaverse’ next to their company’s business strategy, that means they will somehow transform and nirvana is just around the corner. the corner, and of course that’s not the case”, he mentioned.
“Entertaining people is very difficult, building successful franchises is incredibly difficult. It costs a lot of money, takes a lot of time and carries a lot of risk. So when a company that didn’t exist 2 years ago launches with a white paper, blockchain-based metaverse and sells hundreds of millions of dollars worth of digital goods in a 2-day period, sure, I’m a bit skeptical.”Zelnick added.
Lastly, despite having made these criticisms and questioning of the new trend -much discussed- in the video game industry, and having pointed out that everything revolved around speculation with the risk that many people would not finish it well, Zelnick said he believed that there were going to be successful cases of companies that wanted to build metaverses and use blockchain technology, but that the current situation made him think that it will be inevitable that several of the projects will fail because all they do is use a buzzword to attract attention and investors.
It may interest you:
Investments in crypto assets are not regulated. They may not be suitable for retail investors and the full amount invested may be lost. The services or products offered are not aimed at or accessible to investors in Spain.