Blizzard, a game studio and part of the Activision-Blizzard company, has started polling some gamers about the use of NFTs and cryptocurrency elements. The survey, which was only directed to some of its players, raised rumors about the possibility of the company introducing some of these elements into its games. However, Mike Ybarra, head of the studio, denied this possibility.
Blizzard does a selective survey, includes NFTs and Play-to-Earn topics
Blizzard, the game development studio that created franchises like Starcraft, Warcraft, and Overwatch, is asking some gamers about their opinions on NFTs and game mechanics to win. According to sources on social media, the poll consulted gamers on questions that included other more common topics for a gaming company, such as augmented reality and cloud gaming.
However, there was a section that asked directly about the opinion and the feelings of these users on the inclusion of NFTs and cryptocurrency elements in some of the gaming IPs (intellectual property) of the company. While the survey did not directly point to the implementation of these mechanics into any game, it did raise worries in some gamers about the possibility of this being in the works.
However, Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra refuse the idea, stating:
No one is doing NFTs.
NFTs in the future
Blizzard fans were surprised by Ybarra’s response and investigation, deeming the situation illogical. However, this poll could be tied to Activision Blizzard’s future after Microsoft announced its nearly $69 billion acquisition in January.
The future owner of the company, if the purchase clears the legal hurdles it faces, might be interested in taking some of Blizzard’s IPs to experiment with them, which would explain the existence of the exploratory poll. However, there has been no clear news about the origin of the poll.
NFTs and play-to-win phenomena have been hotly debated topics among AAA franchise gamers, who have shown resistance to the adoption of these elements into mainstream games. However, some companies have already included them as part of their business plans, even investing in companies involved in the field.
One of the most pro-crypto companies is Ubisoft, which has already launched its own NFT market, called Quartz, and has backed Animoca Brands, the company behind The Sandbox, one of the most well-known metaverse-based platforms. Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda has also declared support for these types of features, highlighting their benefits in a new year’s letter.
