Game Developer Faces User Backlash Following FTX Acquisition

Last week, crypto exchange FTX purchased Good Luck Games, the developer behind the free-to-play title Storybook Brawl. 

Storybook Brawl players are now demanding the title be delisted from Steam, the popular gaming platform where users can buy, play, create and discuss PC games, per PC Gamer. 

“Good Luck Games was acquired by FTX, a cryptocurrency company, as a way to ‘help crypto make inroads with gamers,'” read one review on Steam. “I want no part of that and I don’t want crypto ‘making inroads’ in things I’m interested in. Uninstalled.”

Another reviewer wrote that they “can’t support a game bringing NFT scams to Steam,” going as far as saying this “should be illegal across the globe.” 

The reviews have nosedived so dramatically since FTX’s purchase of Good Luck Games that only 17% of the last 725 reviews over the previous 30 days have been positive. 

Blockchain and gaming

The controversy generated by FTX’s purchase of Good Luck Games is just the latest in an ever-growing line of issues facing the gaming industry’s relationship with crypto and blockchain technology. 

Last October, Steam banned apps built on blockchain technology that issue—or allow—the exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.

Still, an array of leading game developers have turned to NFTs and blockchain technology as the apparent future of the gaming industry. 

In a letter to fans, Yosuke Matsuda—President of Square Enix, the developer behind the Final Fantasy franchise—said the company should focus its investments on the future of blockchain gaming. 

Meanwhile, Take Two—the developer behind the world-renowned Grand Theft Auto franchise—and Ubisoft, one of the world’s most-known game development companies, have also pivoted to NFTs. 

Yet many gamers are unconvinced, sharing concerns about the potential monetization of their favorite pastime.

The best of Decrypt straight to your inbox.

Get the top stories curated daily, weekly roundups & deep dives straight to your inbox.