• News

Itch.io lays out scathing anti-NFT stance

The folks behind itch.io shared via its social media that the organization is entirely against NFTs and what they represent.

TJ Denzer

February 7, 2022 9:10 AM

2

There has been a continuingly intense mood when it comes to NFTs in the gaming space (or really any space for that matter). The trend has garnered increasingly negative sentiments from the public at large, whether due to blatant scams associated with it, distasteful use of the medium, or combinations of these and other reasons. Itch.io has been a place for users to be openly creative with little boundary in their gaming or other projects for years, but this weekend, even itch.io made a statement that NFTs aren’t welcome.

The folks behind itch.io shared sentiments on the trend of NFTs via the platform’s Twitter on February 5, 2022. According to itch.io’s tweets, the organization has written off NFTs almost entirely as a “scam.”

“If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the exploitation of creators, financial scams, and the destruction of the planet, we ask that you please reevaluate your life choices,” one of itch.io’s tweets read.

A few have asked about our stance on NFTs:

NFTs are a scam. If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the exploitation of creators, financial scams, and the destruction of the planet the we ask that please reevaluate your life choices.

Peace ✌️

— itch.io (@itchio) February 6, 2022

The itch.io Twitter account goes on to condemn organizations who are trying to figure out how to wedge NFTs into gaming - a trend that has been carried out or teased by Ubisoft, Konami, and GameStop to name a few.

“Also, f*** any company that says they support creators and also endorses NFTs in any way,” itch.io continues. “They only care about their own profit and the opportunity for wealth above anyone else. Especially given the now easily available discourse concerning the problems of NFTs.”

It seems that just as much as companies are trying to explore NFTs, they are also backing away from the trend due to overwhelmingly negative public sentiment. Team17 recently rolled back a Worms NFT project, and famed voice actor Troy Baker also backpedaled on a deal he originally agreed to regarding NFTs.

With the mood on NFTs not likely to improve anytime soon with information that is already out there, itch.io’s stance is strong, but not uncommon. For the most part, any company looking to go through with some NFT-laden plan for gaming is going to continue to run into resistance along the way.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.