Despite ample proof that NFTs are nothing more than JPEGs that can leave you susceptible to scams, a few developers have stood their ground about their integration into games. Chief among them is Ubisoft, which not only claims that we "don't get" the concept, but also rewarded its own employees with NFTs despite the internal pushback. Luckily most developers and entities within the industry have voiced their concerns against the concept, with Valve's Gabe Newell being the latest.
Back in October last year, the company let developers know that Steam will not be listing any games built on blockchain technology or that incorporate cryptocurrency and NFTs. Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell has now voiced his personal opinion on the subject in an interview.
"The things that were being done were super sketchy," he told Eurogamer. "And there was some illegal shit that was going on behind the scenes, and you're just like, yeah, this is bad. Blockchains as a technology are a great technology, that the ways in which has been utilised are currently are all pretty sketchy. And you sort of want to stay away from that."
"We have the same problem when we're accepting cryptocurrencies, 50 percent of the cryptocurrency paid for transactions were fraudulent, right? You look at that and you're like, well, that's bad," he continued. "And then cryptocurrency volatility meant that people had no idea what price that they were actually paying. Yes, they were anchored to a cryptocurrency, but most people's wages are not in cryptocurrencies."
Newell is wary of the sheer number of scams and fraudulent activities that are currently plaguing the crypto and NFT market. No company would want to associate itself with a concept that's constantly looked at as a con artist's playground.
"So they're like, how come I just paid $498 US dollars for this product? And if the answer is, you know, that's what happens when you have a highly volatile currency that you're paying for. That's like, today, you paid 99 cents for it tomorrow, you're going to pay $498 for and people that make people super cranky. So it just wasn't a good method. The people who are currently active in that space are not usually good actors."