Neill Blomkamp’s battle royale Off the Grid is an NFT game, unfortunately

District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is making a video game! I knew it. But what I didn’t know is that it’s one of those blockchain / NFT games.

Sigh.

Tonight’s The Future Games Show ended with a fancy CGI trailer showing off the world of Off the Grid, a free-to-play third-person shooter from new developer Gunzilla Games.

The trailer below is very Neill Blomkamp, ​​with sci-fi soldiers in super-serious combat mode. Yes, the faces have uncanny valley written all over them, but I’m getting a District 9 vibe and that’s fine with me.

A Battle Royale that looks like District 9 from Neill Blomkamp! It sounds exciting, right? Unfortunately, while researching this recipe for the trailer, I came across a press release from Gunzilla published on August 9th announcing that the company had raised a bunch of money from investors – and in the same breath confirming that Off the Grid is a blockchain / NFT game .

Sigh.

Off the Grid players can buy and trade in-game items, and yes, trading will be handled by a blockchain marketplace that supports NFTs. It’s all part of Gunzilla’s aptly named GunZ platform.

Gunzilla insists it will never sell NFTs directly to players or hide progression behind a paywall, promising that “trading is completely optional”.

“We strive to give players complete freedom in every detail of OTG, and with every step of the game,” comments Gunzilla CEO Vlad Korolev in the press release.

“In OTG in addition to the core game, players will be able to own and trade in-game items with other players. In addition to assuring players that their hard-earned items remain theirs to keep, no matter what.

“In today’s free-to-play games, if you pay for something, it’s not yours. You don’t, and can’t, own anything. Anyone can read the EULA of any game to verify this. If you’re banned , for example, any item can be taken from you, even if the ban is unintentional. When you stop playing a free game, the money you have deposited is also gone.

“We’re reinventing the system, putting the power back in the hands of players, and using blockchain technology to make this happen. With OTG and GunZ, we’re creating a universe that will set a new standard for the industry.”

Bold claims indeed! But Gunzilla’s press release avoids commenting on the environmental impact of the blockchain. It is worth bearing in mind that the blockchain industry creates significant carbon emissions, and in the US it even contributes to rising energy bills.

Back to “Chief Visionary Officer” Neill Blomkamp and Off the Grid, which is supposedly coming out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S in 2023. As IGN pointed out when it covered the confirmation of blockchain in the game earlier this month, “under our interview with him [Blomkamp]he didn’t mention it would have NFTs.”

Sigh.