STALKER 2: The heart of Chernobyl will be the latest video game to integrate NFTs through a platform that “lets the community own a piece of it”. STALKER 2“Said the developer GSC Game World on Wednesday. In addition, at least one NFT buyer appears in the game as a non-player character.
STALKER 2 is due to be released on April 28, 2022 on Windows PC via the Epic Games Store and Xbox Series X, where it will be available on the first day via Xbox Game Pass. Wednesday’s press release stated that “the rights to certain unique items belong to the players,” and those virtual items can be transacted the DMarket platform.
The NPC – GSC Game World calls him a “metahuman” – will be auctioned in January. Interested STALKER 2s NFTs can register for the item drop auctions starting this month. The in-game NPC will be “part of the story and the online experience,” according to a listing on DMarket’s website. “Whether this is a bartender, a comrade, or an enemy, the NFT owner will be there for everyone.”
The Verge quoted a spokesman as saying this metahuman will not be created using Epic Games’ MetaHuman Creator tool, the started in Early Access again in April. DMarket’s website states that three NPCs are up for sale and “a portion of every metahuman sold is used for charity.” The GSC statement said that “the face of the real owner in the game is recreated using photogrammetry technology, resulting in the highest possible level of realism.”
GSC Game World calls this a first for AAA video games, but it has been done before. Richard Garriotts Tabula rasa MMO for example auctioned off an NPC gig in 2007, the proceeds will go to charity.
Additional items will be auctioned in February, but GSC has stated that all of these virtual goods are cosmetic and “do not affect gameplay itself or offer in-game advantages over other players.”
All in all, the plans for STALKER 2 sound similar to what Ubisoft has in store Tom Clancys Ghost recon Breakpoint, which Ubisoft also called the premiere for AAA video games. Players of this open-world shooter are now claiming free NFTs presented as in-world cosmetics, one of which is reserved for people with 600 or more hours Time spent in the game. Players with 100 hours or less can get yourself a pair of pants today.
