Western Digital Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates as FY2027 Outlook Tops Expectations 
Alphabet Stock Slides as Google AI Pioneer Jeff Dean Exits to Launch Discovery Loop 
DeepSeek to Raise AI API Prices as Demand for New Models Surges 
SpaceX Shares Surge as Wall Street Backs AI Growth Potential 
SMIC Shares Rally as Q2 Profit Surges 262% on Strong Chip Demand 
OpenAI Restricts Astra AI Over Cyberattack Risks 
SanDisk Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates as Q1 Revenue Outlook Meets Expectations 
Anthropic Signs $9.1B AI Data Center Deal With Riot Platforms 
SEC Clears Path for Data Center Securitizations as AI Financing Demand Surges 
LG, Nvidia Expand AI Partnership With Humanoid Robots, AI Factories 
Goldman Sachs Eyes Investors for Nvidia’s $500 Billion AI Financing Plan 
Lenovo Revenue Surges 43% as AI Demand Drives Record First-Quarter Growth 
OpenAI Executive Brad Lightcap to Leave for New AI Venture 
Apple Tests China’s CXMT Memory Chips for iPhones and MacBooks Amid AI Supply Crunch 
Apple Develops China-Specific AI Model With Alibaba as Apple Intelligence Launch Nears 
Nvidia Secures $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Push With Wall Street Giants 
Add as a preferred source on Google
Team17, famously known for developing the “Worms” video game series, is the latest in the industry to announce an NFT project, only to cancel it soon after it was confirmed. Aside from the unsurprising backlash from gaming fans, the company also received negative feedback from independent studios it has partnered with in the past.
The game developer and publisher announced its partnership with Reality Gaming Group on Monday for the MetaWorms project. It was supposed to bring a limited collection of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, that the companies described as “unique” and “generative.” Team17 also attempted to be proactive at appeasing people’s concerns about the environmental impact of NFT trading as it pointed at Reality Gaming Group’s “ultra-low energy technology.”
In the next 24 hours, though, video game fans were not impressed, and the announcement ensued yet another online backlash following an NFT project announcement. Team17 announced on Tuesday that it is ending the MetWorms NFT project. “We have listened to our Teamsters, development partners, and our games’ communities, and the concerns they’ve expressed, and have therefore taken the decision to step back from the NFT space,” the company wrote.
The immediate cancellation of the project was not surprising, though. The negative feedback did not just come from gamers. Independent developers who have had their titles published by Team17 also released statements condemning the project.
Ghost Town Games, developer of the first “Overcooked” game, assured fans that it “will never engage with NFTs.” “Going Under,” developer Aggro Crab Games said, “We believe NFTs cannot be environmentally friendly, or useful, and really just an overall f****** grift.” Playtonic Games, which created the “Yooka-Laylee” series, also told fans that it is not planning on using NFTs in any of its projects “now or in the future.”
— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) February 1, 2022
NFTs have become more popular over the last couple of years. They are hailed mostly for providing artists with more means to sell their work in the digital space. Selling digital arts as NFTs is also deemed helpful to the artists to make sure their work is guarded against tampering and that they receive royalties whenever their work is sold with the use of smart contracts on a blockchain.
However, NFTs have garnered negative feedback over time as well. Buying and selling digital arts and other collections means using cryptocurrencies, which are known to leave a staggering carbon footprint per transaction amid the world’s race to alleviate climate change. And this has been one of the common concerns raised whenever companies like Team17 announce their venture into NFTs.
