The Overarching Publisher, Team 17, Has Done This With No Regard For The Developers Working Beneath Them
NFTs are becoming a popular topic of conversation across all aspects of media. People involved in the world of NFTs are expressing their possible uses in the world of gaming, film, and beyond. While on the opposite end of the spectrum, some developers, filmmakers have expressed their distaste for NFTs and their place in the world of art.
Because of the passion behind the usage of NFT’s we have seen various companies and people associate with them, specifically within the games industry. Troy Baker almost partnered with an NFT company; however, after serious backlash from friends and fans alike, he retracted his statement. Ubisoft has also announced some form of NFT-related project, and finally, so has Team 17.
Now, the primary issue here, with Team 17, is that it is a parent company of many different smaller indie companies. This makes the situation far more complicated than, say, the NFT with Ubisoft. This is mainly because with Team 17’s decision apparent, it has, for better or worse, brought other companies into this view, and in some cases, these smaller companies have disagreed with the company’s decision moving forward.
We have already seen the ramifications of this decision as well. Aggro Crab Games is an indie company, most notable for their work on the game Going Under, published via Team 17. Following this debacle, they put this out on their Twitter (Beware, use of foul language in tweet below):
Aggro Crab stated that they would not work with the publisher anymore, and this is just one company. Supposedly, even the developers who were made aware of this deal expressed their anger with this move, and yet Team 17 went onwards anyway. It is not 100% certain that the deal will follow through, as now, with the concurrent and rather consistent backlash, Team 17 no doubt did not anticipate this level of anger to be directed towards them.
This is overall going to be a situation that emerges in games that publishers will continue to try to make the NFT process work. Many argue for the usage of NFTs in games for many reasons, some referring to the concept of asset sharing across numerous projects. Or perhaps how they could link to the new ‘Play To Earn’ Moniker that has been a more and more common phrase that has continued its rise in popularity. However, many developers have retorted to this ideal, stating how games are an art form and shouldn’t be turned into a money-making process, as it could dilute the industry as a whole.
*Update:
In rather stunning fashion, Team 17 announced that they would no longer be going forward and pursuing their plans with NFTs. This, no doubt, was the response from fans, many whom argued that NFTs had no place in games; furthermore, the retraction of many indie companies associated with Team 17 may have also contributed to this idea.
In other news… have you heard that Bungie has been bought by Sony, or how about Cyberpunk 2077 being native to the PS5 soon? All on GamesCreed.
