At EVO 2022, PlayStation will ask players through a survey what type of NFT they want to buy.
On Twitter, user snorlaxownz posted a screenshot of a survey they received from PlayStation asking: “Which NFT/Digital Collection would you like to buy?” Answers include EVO-branded collectibles, favorite music artists, favorite eSports players and teams, PlayStation merchandise, and favorite game characters.
IGN has self-confirmed the survey at EVO, which shows that PlayStation is at least gauging user interest in NFT at the event.
Greet @ wario64 A special PlayStation mission at EVO was to ask players what gaming NFTs they’d like to see from PlayStation. pic.twitter.com/Vwd5Q3cHn1
– Snorlax Ownz (@snorlaxownz) August 5, 2022
PlayStation has previously dealt with NFTs before. Last month, Sony launched a PlayStation Stars loyalty program allows players to earn digital collectibles like figurines of its iconic characters. However, Sony clarified that these digital collections in the show are not NFT because they don’t use any blockchain technology.
Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad Note that this survey at EVO unrelated to the PlayStation Stars program and the term “digital collection” is merely a term often used interchangeably with NFT.
The gaming industry has spoken out against the NFT. Big players like Valve bans NFTs from Steamand Xbox’s Phil Spencer says that NFTs, in their current iteration, are more exploitative than creative. However, other companies like Square Enix have begun to embrace them. Square Enix recently started selling the Cloud character from Final Fantasy VII act as an NFT.
PlayStation acquired EVO last year. It’s unclear what stance Sony is taking on the NFTs, as the PlayStation Stars program doesn’t feature them. However, this survey at EVO implies that they may still be under consideration.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey
