Card autobattler Storybook Brawl review-bombed for NFT integration • Eurogamer.net

Card autobattler Storybook Brawl is being review-bombed due to NFT integration.

Developer Good Luck Games was this week acquired by cryptocurrency company FTX, which plans to add NFTs to the free-to-play game.

Currently players can buy access to heroes and skins using real money, but they now fear how NFTs may be integrated and are review-bombing the game on Steam.

Good Luck Games addressed the use of blockchain technology in a press release, though no specifics are given beyond the integration being “ethical” and based on fun.

Still, the game’s reputation has tanked in the last few days since the acquisition, according to this Resetera post.

There, screenshots from the game’s Discord server show fans asking the devs further questions about NFTs.

“To be clear we are going to explore non-cosmetic angles,” says content director LSV.

In another response he adds: “We are going to explore a lot of different things, when (if) we find something we like we will share more.”

Players have responded negatively on the game’s subreddit, with one moderator even leaving the server.

“As a personal note, I really enjoyed playing the game and I would have liked to see other monetisation methods attempted prior to opting for NFT/blockchain funding,” they say. “I don’t agree with the decision so I’ll be removing myself as a moderator.”

“Whelp, it’s been fun. 1400 hours in the game. Uninstalled and changed my steam review today. Real shame the game was a ton of fun but I won’t support NFT/Crypto,” reads another comment.

The many negative reviews on Steam almost all cite NFTs as the reason for their post. Until now the game had mostly positive reviews, but only 22 percent of reviews in the last 30 days are positive.

“Crypto and NFTs. Nope,” reads one review, simply. Another reads: “Good Luck Games was acquired by FTX, a cryptocurrency company, as a way to ‘help crypto make inroads with gamers.’ I want no part of that and I don’t want crypto ‘making inroads’ in things I’m interested in. Uninstalled.”

This is just the latest example of a backlash against the inclusion of NFTs in a video game. Even developers aren’t interested in cryptocurrency, according to the GDC State Of The Game Industry survey.