STALKER 2 With Option to Buy NFT Enabling Us to Become an NPC
The developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl want to offer fans the opportunity to become an NPC in the Zone. This attraction is to be sold as an NFT. An additional requirement will be a trip to Ukraine.
The growing popularity of NFTs - with over $27 billion spent on them in 2021 alone - means that game developers are increasingly willing to offer virtual items in such form. Ubisoft used this solution in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint - which caused a wave of "hate" from the players - Peter Molyneux is planning a game based on it, and the creators of Dead by Daylight want to use it to monetize the Hellraiser Chapter DLC. GSC Game World may be next in line, as is looking to bring NFTs to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl - and in a rather unusual way.
The Ukrainian developers want to give fans the option to appear in the Zone as NPCs. For this purpose, the "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Metaverse" program was announced. The concept was explained by the company's CEO, Yevgeny Grigorovich (via The Verge):
"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."
The big industry players have different approaches to NFTs. You can find the details in the post below:
In other words, we will get the opportunity to become a part of the second S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. The creators describe it as "becoming the first metahuman". Sounds interesting, although it's hard to imagine that - regardless of the price - having to travel to Kiev will prove attractive to many people; not in this pandemic day and age. We will find out about the number of interested parties in January, when the first auction of the related NFT is to take place.
Interestingly, the NFT is supposed to be sellable for some time, so it is possible that scalpers will be interested. Moreover, GSC Game World has plans for other NFTs. We don't know anything about them yet, except that - at least according to the creators - the digital items connected with them won't affect the gameplay in any way.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl will debut on April 28 on PC and XSX|S. The title will be available on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass from launch day. Check out the game's system requirements here.
