Cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) seem to be the hottest topics to talk about across almost all verticals nowadays, including gaming. Many big game companies, such as Square Enix and Take-Two, have hinted their plans to incorporate NFTs into their portfolio of games, and the public response to such a thing have been mostly negative. In some other occasions, the response can even materialize into review bombings, just like what Storybook Brawl has experienced recently.
Storybook Brawl is a free-to-play autobattler developed by Good Luck Games that's currently in early access. Prior to the recent event, the game had amassed thousands of positive reviews on Steam. A week ago, however, Good Luck Games announced that it had been acquired by cryptocurrency exchange FTX US, and this apparently has led to an outrage among Storybook Brawl players.
As first reported by PC Gamer, the game's recent reviews have turned to "Overwhelmingly Negative" after getting tons of criticism. As of this writing, only 17 percent of the 727 user reviews in the last 30 days are positive. While Storybook Brawl is free-to-play, so users can very easily participate in the review bombing, a large portion of the negative reviews actually come from players who have poured hundreds of hours into the game.
While Good Luck Games hasn't come up with any exact plans yet, the founder of the studio did say in a dev log video that it's exploring ways to leverage blockchain technology in order to create fun for players. However, the founder also noted that his team doesn't have any mandate that they need to do it, especially since the team is aware of the hostile atmosphere in the gaming community in regard to cryptocurrency and NFTs.
It's no secret that game developers and publishers often receive backlash when they show any sign of interests in making a move into the crypto world. Some developers even went as far as cancelling their plans altogether, like what GSC Game World did last December when it announced its plan to add NFTs into its upcoming game, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
While review bombing continues to be a trend in the gaming industry, it's usually not because of the developer being acquired by a crypto company. Hopefully this doesn't result to a drastic dip in Storybook Brawl's player count, which may potentially hinder the game's ongoing development.
Storybook Brawl is available in early access on PC.
Source: PC Gamer