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- 1 The developer of Palworld reports that the game has sold 7 Million copies to this date.
- 2 The Pokémon Company has intended to investigate the game for intellectual properties (IPs).
Just a few days after its launch Palword a.k.a. Pokemon with guns’ is already a phenomenon in traditional gaming. However, the community is buzzing with speculations of the game integrating non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital assets based on blockchain technology. NFTs have fascinated many, attributing to the unique features they offer but traditional gamers have not decided to welcome them yet.
Lot of Things to Consider
NFT integration in Palworld could make it the biggest game ever to have incorporated blockchain technology. Gaming giants like Ubisoft, Sega, Square Enix, and more have pursued NFTs in the past, however, their endeavor did not end well given the community backlash.
Pocketpair, developer of Palworld reports that the game has sold 7 Million copies to this date. However, the meteoric rise means that the players had trouble logging in to the game due to server crashes. According to Steamdb, a tracker website, 1.3 Million players were reported playing it concurrently at its peak.
But this momentum could easily break if the company decides to bring NFTs in game. The blockchain-based asset is hurtful for both the values of gaming and the environment. Initially, the gamers believe it may extract the entertainment value and replace it with financial value and games cannot work that way.
Furthermore, non-fungible tokens take up energy throughout their life cycles as they are transferred between digital wallets. Minting one NFT can consume nearly 206 kilowatt-hour (kWh). However, this is the case with assets active on a blockchain using a consensus mechanism called proof-of-work (PoW). There’s also an environment-friendly method dubbed proof-of-stake (PoS).
PoS is usually most favored by environment enthusiasts as it is reportedly energy efficient. Ethereum (ETH), the second largest blockchain project in the world, transitioned from PoW to PoS in 2022. Associated people with the project said that the move will cut carbon emissions from the blockchain by a whopping 99 percent.
Over 80 percent of NFT activities take place on Ethereum, which means that there should have been a drastic decline in carbon emissions from the NFT sector considering all the digital assets on the blockchain. However, the primary concerns regarding NFTs is how these will affect the entertainment value of projects.
Time will tell if these speculations will materialize while the game is still active. Moreover, the game could face legal consequences as The Pokémon Company expressed its intentions to investigate the game for intellectual properties (IPs).
“We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game,” said The Pokémon Company. “We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.
Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.
