STALKER 2 makers to auction NFTs for in-game NPC appearance

STALKER 2 – Heart of Chernobyl will be the latest video game to incorporate NFTs, through a platform that will “let the community own a piece of STALKER 2,” developer GSC Game World said on Wednesday. A minimum of one NFT buyer will be featured in the game as non-player characters.

STALKER 2The Epic Games Store will host the launch of this game on Windows PC on April 28, 2022, while Xbox Series X and Xbox Series X will offer it on Xbox Game Pass. Wednesday’s news release said “the rights to certain unique items will belong to players,” and these virtual items can be transacted on the DMarket platform.

The NPC — GSC Game World calls it a “metahuman” — will be auctioned off in January. All interested parties are invited to participate in the auction. STALKER 2’s NFTs may register for the item-drop auctions beginning this month. The in-game NPC will be “a part of the story and online experience,” says a listing on DMarket’s website. “Whether this will be a bartender, a comrade, or an enemy, the NFT owner will be there for everyone to see.”

The Verge, quoting a spokesperson, said this metahuman won’t be made with Epic Games’ MetaHuman Creator tool, which launched in early access back in April. DMarket’s website says that three NPCs will be available for sale and “a part of each meta human sold will go to charity.” GSC’s statement says that “the face of the real owner will be recreated in the game by using photogrammetry technology, resulting in the highest possible level of realism.”

GSC Game World calls this a first for AAA-scale video games, but it’s been done before. Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa MMO sold an NPC appearance in 2007 and the proceeds went to charity.

Additional item drops will go to auction in February, but GSC specified that all of these virtual goods are cosmetic and “won’t influence the gameplay itself or give in-game advantages over other players.”

Overall, plans are for STALKER 2Sound like what Ubisoft is offering? Tom Clancy’s Ghost ReconBreakpointUbisoft called this a breakthrough in AAA gaming. Open-world players can now claim free NFTs. These are in-world cosmetics. One of these is for people who have 600 hours or more of gameplay time. Today’s offer is for players with less than 100 hours.