Digital currencies, such as Ethereum, are something of a hot topic at the moment, with NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, finding their way into the video game sphere. The controversial blockchain unit has caught the attention of the likes of Valve, who recently said it would be banning cryptocurrency and NFTs from its Steam platform. However, despite the contention, Dead by Daylight developer Bohemia Interactive will be adding it to its popular multiplayer horror game, and is being heavily criticized for it on social media.
In a post on the Dead by Daylight Twitter account recently, the studio has been working with Boss Protocol, a company that makes NFTs, with the cryptocurrency being approved for the game. The initial tweet says that adding the digital currency into the game gives an opportunity to "grant access" to the latest chapter in the survival title. There's also an accompanying image on the tweet which shows Pinhead and the words "NFT Collector" beneath the Hellraiser logo.
However, fans have replied to the tweets, expressing their dissatisfaction with it being one of the latest in a series of games that have introduced an NFT system. One user accused the company of lying, referring to a previous tweet in which is said it would not be involved in NFTs. Others in the replies have concerns over the environmental effects of implementing cryptocurrency, which is usually farmed heavily, often through multiple graphics cards, which eats up a lot of power. One person even uploaded screenshots of them uninstalling Dead by Daylight all together.
Non-fungible token have drawn controversy, with artists upset over having their original work turned into NFTs to be sold. It has the potential to net sellers millions, but some are skeptical about how digital art can have an original owner when images online can be replicated identically. Big companies like GameStop and Atari have got in on the act over the last few months, which suggests that NFTs are perhaps going to continue to grow in gaming.
Dead by Daylight is pretty much a go-to for online horror fans, and this is likely to increase in the run-up to Halloween. However, this latest development is showing that fans are not happy with the direction the game is being taken in. It might be one of the most popular online games currently, especially in the streaming community, but the studio's decision to implement NFTs, and the backlash that's come from it, is probably going to tarnish its reputation quite quickly.
Dead by Daylight is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and mobile devices.