S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the next game getting NFTs

GSC Game World, which is developing the game, has announced the “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Metaverse,” which will “use blockchain technology to let the community own a piece of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.” That includes the opportunity to become the “first-ever metahuman,” which GSC Game World appears to define as a non-player character rendered in very high detail. (Though a spokesperson confirmed a metahuman won’t be made with Epic Games’ MetaHuman Creator tool). GSC Game World is partnering with NFT platform DMarket on the new items.

To become a “metahuman,” players will be able to bid for an NFT offering that prize as part of an auction taking place in January 2022. Whoever “owns” the NFT to become an NPC in the game will be able to buy and sell it up until a specific claim date after the auction.

For whoever does end up with the NFT, here’s how the process of becoming an NPC in the game will work, GSC Game World CEO Evgeniy Grygorovych told me in an emailed statement:

The idea of the related NFT is to give the right to recreate its owner’s identity within the game through one of the NPCs. The person will need to come to our studio for a detailed scanning procedure and after that, we will have everything to make this person appear in the game world as one of the characters.

GSC Game World also plans to release other NFTs in addition to the metahuman one, though the company declined to specify what they might be when we asked. Its NFT drops “won’t influence the gameplay itself or give in-game advantages over other players,” according to a press release.

There are so many different companies and games jumping into the NFT business with a lot of pushback from folks trying to think of the environment. What drove us to here where we are now honoring 1’s and 0’s as a form of currency? Are we really in the Matrix?