F1 NFT game ends overnight

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After selling millions of reais in NFTs and attracting thousands of people in search of easy money, the “play-to-earn” game “F1 Delta Time” announced the sudden end of its activities on March 15th. About 24 hours later, the game went offline, rendering the items associated with it useless and virtually worthless, and showing the high risk of investments of this type.

Launched in 2019, the Animoca Brands game was one of the first licensed NFT (non-fungible token, which works as a kind of certificate of ownership linked to a digital product) based game that is known.

To start playing, you had to buy at least three basic NFTs: a driver, a car and a set of tires. From then on, the player could use these virtual items to compete in races and win prizes in the game’s cryptocurrency, called REVV, which could be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies or used to buy even better equipment (NFTs).

Supported by the brand of the main category of world motorsport, the game seemed to be a success among the “play-to-earn” titles, despite having a very basic gameplay – the car was controlled with just three keys (accelerate, brake and turbo). According to cryptocurrency website Decrypt, a car in the game called “1-1-1” was the most expensive NFT sold in 2019, at a price equivalent at the time to US$110,000.

In the following years, major new deals were made in the game. In March 2021, for example, Animoca Brands announced the sale at an NFT auction of a car in celebration of the 70th anniversary of F1. The item cost 987 thousand REVV, or US$ 265 thousand (R$ 1.2 million) at the virtual currency exchange rate at the time.

Exactly one year later, however, the company announced that it had failed to strike a deal with F1 to renew its licensing and that “F1 Delta Time” would cease to exist.

“We want to thank our fans and players for their loyalty over the past three years. You have allowed us to create a new kind of gaming experience and contribute to the foundation of many more blockchain games, now and in the future,” said Animoca Brands.

In return, the company offered to trade in-game items that had lost their usefulness for benefits in the game “REVV Racing”, one of their other “play-to-earn” racing titles.

Even NFTs associated with games from major developers are at risk of rapid and unexpected depreciation. On the 5th, Ubisoft announced that it will no longer make updates or additional content for the game “Ghost Recon Breakpoint”, one of the first top-tier games to use the technology. The move is considered a sign of the beginning of the end for online gaming.

On the game’s page on Ubisoft Quartz, the company’s NFT trading platform, a message was included indicating that new NFT items will also not be released for the title. Along with it, a thank you to players who purchased digital items: “you have a piece of the game and you left your mark on its history”.

It is not today that experts warn of the risks of using NFTs associated with virtual games as a form of investment. The cases of “F1 Delta Time” and “Ghost Recon Breakpoint” serve as a new alert for players not to see their money disappear overnight.

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Weird West

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Set in a supernatural version of the American Wild West, “Weird West” is an innovative action RPG. The debut title from the WolfEye studio, which brings together former Arkane employees, combines the freedom of “immersive sims” like “Dishonored” and “Prey” with the gameplay of “twin stick shooters” like “Enter the Gungeon” and “The Ascent.” , all of this stitched together with a surprising and creative story. The game is available on Xbox Game Pass, so if you subscribe, there’s no reason not to try it out.

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• Devolver Digital announced in a video the launch later this year of a new title in the celebrated adventure series “Monkey Island”. “Return to Monkey Island” has been in development for two years by Ron Gilbert, creator of the series, and is expected to continue the story of “Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck’s Revenge”, from 1991. The last game in the franchise was “Tales of Monkey Island”. “, released in 2009.

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