“In our home, we don’t believe in NFTs. “Tragic end for a fantastic auto battler,” one disgruntled anti-NFT player said.
Following the purchase of its makers Good Luck Games by crypto exchange FTX, outraged fans have review bombed Storybook Brawl on Steam due to concerns about future nonfungible token (NFT) and blockchain connections.
Storybook Brawl is a free-to-play auto-battle card game that was released in mid-2021 on the online gaming platform Steam. The game’s review history revealed an outpouring of love until March 22, the day FTX US announced its purchase.
Since then, the game has been “overwhelmingly negative,” with 600 of the previous 761 reviews being negative. While anybody who hasn’t played the game may offer feedback since it doesn’t need a purchase, many of the evaluations are from players who have spent a significant amount of time on the game.
“In our home, we don’t believe in NFTs. “Tragic end to a superb auto battler,” remarked Steam user asnugglekitten, who has played the game for more than 130 hours. Another gamer, King Bear, who has played for more than 60 hours, wrote:
“FTX, a cryptocurrency business, purchased Good Luck Games in order to ‘help crypto make inroads with gamers.’ I don’t want any part of it, and I don’t want cryptocurrency to “make inroads” into areas of interest to me. Uninstalled.”
Storybook Brawl will be merged into FTX US’s blockchain gaming section as part of the purchase, with FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried describing the firm’s larger aspirations to responsibly connect “game and crypto transactions in a manner that hasn’t previously been done in this area.”
On March 23, Excellent Luck Games creator Matt Place stressed that the move was good news for both the player and the firm, as it now had the money to develop the game to the triple-A level.
It may do nothing to allay the fears of the game’s many crypto-skeptic players, but Place also pointed out that FTX US hasn’t made it a necessity that blockchain technology be integrated:
“We’re going to investigate blockchain technology […] to see how we can use it to provide value and entertainment for gamers.” When we discover it, we’ll include it into the game, and if we don’t, we don’t have a mandate to do so.”
While NFTs, cryptocurrency, and blockchain have been enthusiastically accepted by artists and gamers alike, there are still many naysayers in both areas.
Many anti-crypto gamers are concerned about apparent frauds, cash grabs, and the environmental effect of crypto, despite the fact that more power-efficient blockchain alternatives than proof-of-work networks are available for gaming.
So far, several conventional games and corporations have faced backlash over possible connections, including Ubisoft, Discord, a major gaming social media platform, Electronic Arts, and Worms producers Team17.
