After profile pictures, NFT creators forayed into the world of gaming, with limited success in breaking into gamer culture.
These days, though, Worldwide Webb founder Thomas Webb thinks this sentiment is changing.
Webb told Decrypt at this year’s NFT Paris that "the real challenge for us is going to be showing gamers that NFT games aren't just about minting and staking and yield farming; actually, they're about competing, collaborating, taking on challenges and earning from that.”
One needn't look far to get a sense of the gaming world's sentiment on integrating jpegs.
When GSC Game World announced that it would be incorporating NFTs into S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, gamers mocked the developer for jumping blindly into a fad. The Ukrainian developers ultimately canceled the launch, telling fans “based on the feedback we received we’ve made a decision to cancel anything NFT-related.”
Ubisoft faced similar in 2021 backlash after it moved to implement in-game NFTs on a Tezos-based platform called Quartz. Despite the backlash, the firm’s blockchain technical director said that “it is a major change that will take time.”
What is Worldwide Webb?
Worldwide Webb supports more than 1 million Ethereum NFT avatars and is fully online and browser-based. Players can plug in their Ethereum wallet and use their NFT avatars from popular collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, Doodles, Cool Cats, and Deadfellaz.
Each supported avatar is converted into a 2D pixel character that players own and control, interacting or battling with other players, and taking on various bosses.
"I'm really hoping to see a couple of games that unite all of these NFT collections, all of these brands under one single place and to fight, compete, share an experience together," Webb said. "And I think the more we see those, the more that NFT gaming is going to grow and we're going to start making a really good name for what NFT gaming is and should be and will be in the future."
Webb isn’t alone on the future of NFT gaming, either. The project just raised $10 million in a series A backed by Pantera Capital, marking the game's first external funding round since its initial debut in 2020.