The NFT Bubble Has Officially Burst
NFTs have been a poltergeist in the gaming industry - always lurking, vicious and waiting to strike. The trend was picked up by crypto-bros sharpish, touted as a new way to interact with art in a totally digital space, before becoming a breeding ground for stolen art, plundering, and straight-up scamming.
Of course, players are making attempt to bring them into the video game world. Valve gave it a go a long time ago, and it was a massive failure. Blockchain enthusiasts hoped for more, but now, it looks like they won't have the chance.
Interest In NFTs Has Tanked
Click to enlargeSorry, guys. We may be staring down the end of NFTs as we know them, as interest in non-fungible tokens has absolutely stacked it. Many guessed the bubble would burst, but did they expect it to happen quite so quickly?
According to NFT site NonFungible, (via The Wall Street Journal) data suggests that the daily average of NFT sales last week had fallen to 19,000 a week. That's down from a whopping 225,000 in September, meaning a huge 92% decline for the practice. We're not exactly mathematicians, but ooft.
Not only are sales down, but so is the general number of users, as 88% of wallets in the marketplace have gone inactive. It's left only 14,000 used in the last week - down from 119,000 in November.
What Does This Mean For Video Game NFTs?
It's pretty terrible timing for Square Enix, which just sold some of its western studios - including the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex franchises - in order to focus on the blockchain. Chances are, this means that interest in video game NFTs will dwindle too.
The practice of NFTS was always different depending on who you asked about it anyway, so as the concept is so diffuse, it may not even be worth considering now that players just aren't interested in their prospect. So, it looks like NFTs could truly be on their way out, while their application in video games is just another pipe dream. And we can't help but feel a little relieved. Sorry, crypto-bros - it's over.