Blizzard CEO Ybarra: Blizzard not working on NFTs

Blizzard isn’t working on NFTs, company president Mike Ybarra says. He is responding to unrest that has arisen after a survey that Activision Blizzard sent out. That survey included questions about NFTs and play-to-earn crypto games.

Several people have reported on Twitter this weekend that they have received a survey from Activision Blizzard, writes GameRant. The questionnaire asked users how much they are interested in the company’s games, how often they play those games, and what genre they play most often.

The questions were also about in which ‘new trends’ within gaming the users are interested. These included subscriptions such as Xbox Game Pass and Playstation Now, as well as crossplay, VR or AR gaming and the metaverse. Questions about NFTs and ‘play-to-earn gaming to win cryptocurrencies, NFTs or real money’ were also asked. These last questions made some users think that the company is actively working on the implementation of NFTs and play-to-earn games.

Blizzard President Mike Ybarra wrote Sunday afternoon on Twitter that ‘nobody is working on NFTs’. It is not clear why the questions were asked in the survey. It is also unknown whether he is only speaking about Blizzard or also on behalf of Activision. In recent months, several developers have expressed support for NFTs in gaming, including Square Enix, the makers of Stalker 2 and Ubisoft. Ubisoft’s NFTs proved unsuccessful and the NFTs for Stalker 2 have since been scrapped.