If this is going to be a regular thing we're going to have to just repost this story weekly and just find and replace the game name depending on who's messing up this week. Once again we are back to write about how a game is contemplating NFTs, and that means we're once again writing about why that's a really stupid idea. And, this time, gamers agree.
This time around it's not a big company talking about it, but one that you might not have heard of. It's also a little more specific, with the focus here being a game called Cookie Run, which has led to the hashtag #StopCookieRunNFTs.
What is Cookie Run?
Cookie Run is a series of games that began back in 2009, but saw a new entry this year with Cookie Run: Kingdom. It is, according to Wikipedia, "a series of online mobile endless running games developed by Devsisters. Inspired by the classic folk tale The Gingerbread Man, the series is set in a world of sentient gingerbread cookies who were brought to life in an oven by an unnamed witch and have since escaped her evil clutches."
Cookie Run: Kingdom has played controlling the cookies as they adjust to life in a new kingdom and has over 200 levels. It saw a big boost in popularity when Genshin Impact handled their first anniversary poorly, at least as far as some hardcore fans are concerned. It has players not only running a lot, but also taking part in battles using a variety of different cookies that are obtained by gacha mechanics.
It features a variety of in-app purchases that allow players to subscribe to the battle pass, level up their kingdom, get a bunch of the vast array of different currency types and upgrade materials, and also buy monthly deals, all designed to get players to put money in to try and get ahead. Players can then try and spin the wheel to get the cookies they want.
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Here comes NFTs, and gamers aren't happy
A post on Reddit has appeared that states that Divsisters, the company behind the games, is planning on dabbling with Cookie Run NFTs, and also NFT-related games. Shockingly, there aren't that many gamers who are happy about that. When you consider how this could fit into a gacha game, with the potential for users to own specific unique skins or even characters and then potentially sell them on to earn money, it almost feels like a natural evolution of this style of monetisation.
The only real differences here are that players can then sell these skins on to make money based on whatever value the world decides any given thing has, and also that NFTs consume a colossal amount of energy depending on the blockchain that's being used.
As many NFTs are based on blockchains that use proof-of-work security, they're incredibly energy-intensive with an average footprint of around 340kWh, which is the same amount that it would take the average person to use in just under a week. There are plenty of good reasons to be annoyed at NFTs, but this is the one that's the most pressing as we're staring down the loaded barrel of climate change. Also, they introduce more capitalism into gaming, and frankly, if you're playing games to escape from the ills of the world, both of these things suck.
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