There's a chance you haven't heard of Dread Hunger yet, even though it's one of the biggest games in the world right now.

A cocktail of Among Us-like social deduction amid the ticking-clock fear of a survival game, the game has quietly amassed a huge playerbase, to the point where it's been in and around Steam's top 10 most played games for well over a month. That success has been so huge, and so sudden, that developer Dread Hunger Team has had reprioritise development to meet the demand.

While it was available for months in Early Access, where Dread Hunger averaged a few hundred players at one time, the game shot to success around its official release in January, climbing to more than 100,000 players, one million copies sold, and rubbing shoulders with Grand Theft Auto V and Elden Ring on Steam's top ten list for concurrent players.

"The surge in popularity was totally unexpected but extremely exciting", said Romy Gellen, marketing and communications coordinator. "We were stoked that we were starting to see hype building and people catching onto our game as we approached full release."

Dread Hunger is about survival, asking eight players to sail their ship through the 19th Century Arctic, stopping and exploring on foot for fuel, food, and other resources. While this is difficult enough by itself, two of the players become corrupted by evil forces and begin to secretly sabotage the group.

The mix of deception and survival gameplay clearly worked, but the popularity came with challenges, most notably in the form of cyber attacks that forced the Dread Hunger team - made up of about eight people collaborating between developers Digital Confectioners and Slowdrive Studios - to refocus where to put their resources.

"The biggest challenge we’ve been facing has been DDoS attacks and having to strengthen our infrastructure," Gellen added. "But that’s what happens when you get big – you become a target – so that shows we must be doing something right."

While the Dread Hunger team feels it has these attacks under control now, having to bolster its digital defences meant that releasing new content was put on the back burner.

"Having a heavy focus on infrastructure as well as anti-cheat has taken priority over new content for the past while," Gellen said. "We’d love to be working on new content but obviously cheating and server outages mean you can’t play the game at all, making those most important to tackle as quickly as possible.

"We’re beyond happy with the growth Dread Hunger has experienced, so we’re wanting at the moment to improve the experience for our dedicated players. We feel like we have a pretty good grip on those issues now though so we look forward to bringing out new content as soon as we can."

That content is outlined in Dread Hunger's 2022 roadmap, which promises new prestige levels and cosmetic types are on the way soon, while grander additions, such as a new area, ship customisation options, and spells are planned for later in the year.

Beyond that though, given the unpredictable nature of Dread Hunger and the amount of unexpected work it's demanded so far, the developers haven't planned more updates.

"We have a roadmap spanning across 2022 so far and beyond that anything could happen," Gellen said. "As a small team we’re trying to keep our heads down working hard on the roadmap content, that we don’t have much time to plan further ahead."

That's not to say the team hasn't thought about the future, and though nothing is confirmed yet, it has already considered moving it beyond PC. "We would love to consider exploring consoles at some point down the line so that everyone can enjoy Dread Hunger regardless of platform," Gellen said.

With so much going on, it's unsurprising that the Dread Hunger team is just focusing on getting the day-to-day work done, but Gellen made clear that it's been a great experience overall, even with the challenges.

"It’s been hugely insightful and has taught us a lot," he said, and it's also been humbling, "especially when players take it that bit further and make creations of their own like cosplays, fanart, and fan fiction. That has been a real highlight for us."

The team has endured a lot in the last three months, fighting for survival itself amid cyber attacks and the pressure of a booming player base. But the storm has hopefully now passed, and the ship of Dread Hunger can be steered through calm waters once again – albeit with a lot more fans on board.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

There's a chance you haven't heard of Dread Hunger yet, even though it's one of the biggest games in the world right now.

A cocktail of Among Us-like social deduction amid the ticking-clock fear of a survival game, the game has quietly amassed a huge playerbase, to the point where it's been in and around Steam's top 10 most played games for well over a month. That success has been so huge, and so sudden, that developer Dread Hunger Team has had reprioritise development to meet the demand.

While it was available for months in Early Access, where Dread Hunger averaged a few hundred players at one time, the game shot to success around its official release in January, climbing to more than 100,000 players, one million copies sold, and rubbing shoulders with Grand Theft Auto V and Elden Ring on Steam's top ten list for concurrent players.

"The surge in popularity was totally unexpected but extremely exciting", said Romy Gellen, marketing and communications coordinator. "We were stoked that we were starting to see hype building and people catching onto our game as we approached full release."

Dread Hunger is about survival, asking eight players to sail their ship through the 19th Century Arctic, stopping and exploring on foot for fuel, food, and other resources. While this is difficult enough by itself, two of the players become corrupted by evil forces and begin to secretly sabotage the group.

The mix of deception and survival gameplay clearly worked, but the popularity came with challenges, most notably in the form of cyber attacks that forced the Dread Hunger team - made up of about eight people collaborating between developers Digital Confectioners and Slowdrive Studios - to refocus where to put their resources.

"The biggest challenge we’ve been facing has been DDoS attacks and having to strengthen our infrastructure," Gellen added. "But that’s what happens when you get big – you become a target – so that shows we must be doing something right."

While the Dread Hunger team feels it has these attacks under control now, having to bolster its digital defences meant that releasing new content was put on the back burner.

"Having a heavy focus on infrastructure as well as anti-cheat has taken priority over new content for the past while," Gellen said. "We’d love to be working on new content but obviously cheating and server outages mean you can’t play the game at all, making those most important to tackle as quickly as possible.

"We’re beyond happy with the growth Dread Hunger has experienced, so we’re wanting at the moment to improve the experience for our dedicated players. We feel like we have a pretty good grip on those issues now though so we look forward to bringing out new content as soon as we can."

That content is outlined in Dread Hunger's 2022 roadmap, which promises new prestige levels and cosmetic types are on the way soon, while grander additions, such as a new area, ship customisation options, and spells are planned for later in the year.

Beyond that though, given the unpredictable nature of Dread Hunger and the amount of unexpected work it's demanded so far, the developers haven't planned more updates.

"We have a roadmap spanning across 2022 so far and beyond that anything could happen," Gellen said. "As a small team we’re trying to keep our heads down working hard on the roadmap content, that we don’t have much time to plan further ahead."

That's not to say the team hasn't thought about the future, and though nothing is confirmed yet, it has already considered moving it beyond PC. "We would love to consider exploring consoles at some point down the line so that everyone can enjoy Dread Hunger regardless of platform," Gellen said.

With so much going on, it's unsurprising that the Dread Hunger team is just focusing on getting the day-to-day work done, but Gellen made clear that it's been a great experience overall, even with the challenges.

"It’s been hugely insightful and has taught us a lot," he said, and it's also been humbling, "especially when players take it that bit further and make creations of their own like cosplays, fanart, and fan fiction. That has been a real highlight for us."

The team has endured a lot in the last three months, fighting for survival itself amid cyber attacks and the pressure of a booming player base. But the storm has hopefully now passed, and the ship of Dread Hunger can be steered through calm waters once again – albeit with a lot more fans on board.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The travelers of the night have been protected once again as Moon Knight draws to a close. The Disney+ series split the between horrible trauma and magical adventure, introducing viewers to all sides of Marc Spector. In addition, it was a chance for Egyptian director Mohamed Diab to show the wider world his home and culture. Not only did the latter part of the show take place in Cairo, but the production staff, cast, and even the music were rooted in the same culture.

A lot of that was in Diab's original pitch for the series. The 200-page pitch explained exactly what he, and his wife and producer Sara Goher, wanted to do with the show. Diab said that most of that pitch ended up in the show.

"First of all, that pitch? It was all pictures, so you can go through it in a minute. If it were two hundred pages of words, it would have been longer than the script," Diab explained to IGN. "So it's explaining everything, all the vision we have as directors. It started with why I'm the best person for the job. What's the tone? How are we going to develop the characters and connect things? For example, the love triangle was in there. I loved [...] the idea of someone having a love triangle between him and himself."

Diab said the pitch became the show, explaining visual themes, the style of action, and even the music. And the stuff that couldn't fit into the show proper still found its way into the project. The ideas would end up being used for the concept art showed in the credits. Diab points to one shot shown in the credits. In the art, London and Cairo are mirrored over one another. Diab says that came from the original pitch.

"Even the parts that we didn't do became part of the after credits. For example, you see in the credits London, and Cairo in the reflection. That was in the pitch, I wanted to always the duality of him always seeing similarities in Cairo, in Egypt. I mean in Cairo and in London," he explained to IGN. "He lives in a place where people are selling stuff in the street in London, that reminds him later on of what happens in Cairo. So everything could be in his mind. You never know what inspires what."

Diab said that the production crew attempted to have that shot in the show itself, with one location in London identical to another in Cairo. Unfortunately, the production couldn't actually shoot in Cairo, so the idea was cut. Still, Marvel Studios found a way to use every part of the pitch.

We still don't know if Moon Knight will continue on past this season. The show was marketed as a limited series, but Ethan Hawke — who played the villainous Arthur Harrow — admitted that it could just be the beginning. "It lives and breathes on its own merits, it functions as a limited series – and if people are engaged and excited by it then it could be the origin story of a larger thing," Hawke told IGN. There were certainly enough tantalizing hints – and even a brand-new character – in the final episode to point toward a follow-up.

If you're still hungry for more Marvel, Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is in theaters right now. There's also the upcoming Ms. Marvel series, which will hit Disney+ on June 8.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.

The travelers of the night have been protected once again as Moon Knight draws to a close. The Disney+ series split the between horrible trauma and magical adventure, introducing viewers to all sides of Marc Spector. In addition, it was a chance for Egyptian director Mohamed Diab to show the wider world his home and culture. Not only did the latter part of the show take place in Cairo, but the production staff, cast, and even the music were rooted in the same culture.

A lot of that was in Diab's original pitch for the series. The 200-page pitch explained exactly what he, and his wife and producer Sara Goher, wanted to do with the show. Diab said that most of that pitch ended up in the show.

"First of all, that pitch? It was all pictures, so you can go through it in a minute. If it were two hundred pages of words, it would have been longer than the script," Diab explained to IGN. "So it's explaining everything, all the vision we have as directors. It started with why I'm the best person for the job. What's the tone? How are we going to develop the characters and connect things? For example, the love triangle was in there. I loved [...] the idea of someone having a love triangle between him and himself."

Diab said the pitch became the show, explaining visual themes, the style of action, and even the music. And the stuff that couldn't fit into the show proper still found its way into the project. The ideas would end up being used for the concept art showed in the credits. Diab points to one shot shown in the credits. In the art, London and Cairo are mirrored over one another. Diab says that came from the original pitch.

"Even the parts that we didn't do became part of the after credits. For example, you see in the credits London, and Cairo in the reflection. That was in the pitch, I wanted to always the duality of him always seeing similarities in Cairo, in Egypt. I mean in Cairo and in London," he explained to IGN. "He lives in a place where people are selling stuff in the street in London, that reminds him later on of what happens in Cairo. So everything could be in his mind. You never know what inspires what."

Diab said that the production crew attempted to have that shot in the show itself, with one location in London identical to another in Cairo. Unfortunately, the production couldn't actually shoot in Cairo, so the idea was cut. Still, Marvel Studios found a way to use every part of the pitch.

We still don't know if Moon Knight will continue on past this season. The show was marketed as a limited series, but Ethan Hawke — who played the villainous Arthur Harrow — admitted that it could just be the beginning. "It lives and breathes on its own merits, it functions as a limited series – and if people are engaged and excited by it then it could be the origin story of a larger thing," Hawke told IGN. There were certainly enough tantalizing hints – and even a brand-new character – in the final episode to point toward a follow-up.

If you're still hungry for more Marvel, Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is in theaters right now. There's also the upcoming Ms. Marvel series, which will hit Disney+ on June 8.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.

Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab has explained why one key element of the original comics was only introduced fully in the show's Season 1 finale.

This article contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Moon Knight.

With the final episode of Moon Knight, Marc Spector and Steven Grant have found something of a synthesis in their lives. The two personalities have come to terms with needing one another, saving the world, and being free from the godly taskmaster Khonshu. During the series, however, there were hints that something else was hiding inside of Marc Spector.

Throughout the series, there were teases of another personality. Marc and Steven would blackout, only to wake up to horrible brutality. In the post-credits scene of the sixth episode, that brutality was revealed to be the work of Jake Lockley, another one of Marc's alters. Unlike Marc and Steven, Jake is more than willing to deal out Khonshu's vengeance.

In the comics, Lockley is a key part of the Moon Knight mythos from the beginning. There, the alter is a cab driver, Marc Spector's connection to the common man. In the show, it's clear Lockley is something wholly different. Given Lockley's place in Moon Knight's comics canon, why did the show wait until the very end to reveal him?

"The idea from [head writer Jeremy Slater] was, 'Let's focus on Marc and Steven.' So we give them the time to understand their relationship because the whole thing is about— our story is about Marc and Steven learning to live with themselves," Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab told IGN.

Diab said that Jake needed more time to flesh out, and that was time the series didn't really have. "We need to understand who he is. We need to understand everything and give him the time that he needs," he added. "So right now, the door is open for that idea to be fleshed out one day." We're still waiting to hear if a Season 2 could happen.

One thing Diab loved during the show's run was the comic fans who were looking out for Lockley. The blackouts, the errant date in episode 1, and the coffin in episode 4 all pointed to Lockley and got fans excited for his reveal.

"I loved how much how he was teased and how he was trending every week. Every week, people wanted to see more of him or see him, but he was present without seeing him. I really feel like we found a little ground on how to introduce Jake," said Diab.

Jake's appearance is just a little tease at the end of the episode, but it promises so much more for Moon Knight. Wild Jake is a driver of sorts, it's clear the personality is a bit more violent than even Marc. The use of Spanish and humming of a Guatemalan hymn was a fun inclusion of Oscar Isaac's own heritage as well. And that's before you get to the introduction of a brand-new hero into the MCU.

The next series from Marvel Studios is Ms. Marvel, which is airing on Disney+ on June 8. If you're willing to hit the theaters right now, you can also take in the Raimi-powered spectacle that is Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.

Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab has explained why one key element of the original comics was only introduced fully in the show's Season 1 finale.

This article contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Moon Knight.

With the final episode of Moon Knight, Marc Spector and Steven Grant have found something of a synthesis in their lives. The two personalities have come to terms with needing one another, saving the world, and being free from the godly taskmaster Khonshu. During the series, however, there were hints that something else was hiding inside of Marc Spector.

Throughout the series, there were teases of another personality. Marc and Steven would blackout, only to wake up to horrible brutality. In the post-credits scene of the sixth episode, that brutality was revealed to be the work of Jake Lockley, another one of Marc's alters. Unlike Marc and Steven, Jake is more than willing to deal out Khonshu's vengeance.

In the comics, Lockley is a key part of the Moon Knight mythos from the beginning. There, the alter is a cab driver, Marc Spector's connection to the common man. In the show, it's clear Lockley is something wholly different. Given Lockley's place in Moon Knight's comics canon, why did the show wait until the very end to reveal him?

"The idea from [head writer Jeremy Slater] was, 'Let's focus on Marc and Steven.' So we give them the time to understand their relationship because the whole thing is about— our story is about Marc and Steven learning to live with themselves," Moon Knight director Mohamed Diab told IGN.

Diab said that Jake needed more time to flesh out, and that was time the series didn't really have. "We need to understand who he is. We need to understand everything and give him the time that he needs," he added. "So right now, the door is open for that idea to be fleshed out one day." We're still waiting to hear if a Season 2 could happen.

One thing Diab loved during the show's run was the comic fans who were looking out for Lockley. The blackouts, the errant date in episode 1, and the coffin in episode 4 all pointed to Lockley and got fans excited for his reveal.

"I loved how much how he was teased and how he was trending every week. Every week, people wanted to see more of him or see him, but he was present without seeing him. I really feel like we found a little ground on how to introduce Jake," said Diab.

Jake's appearance is just a little tease at the end of the episode, but it promises so much more for Moon Knight. Wild Jake is a driver of sorts, it's clear the personality is a bit more violent than even Marc. The use of Spanish and humming of a Guatemalan hymn was a fun inclusion of Oscar Isaac's own heritage as well. And that's before you get to the introduction of a brand-new hero into the MCU.

The next series from Marvel Studios is Ms. Marvel, which is airing on Disney+ on June 8. If you're willing to hit the theaters right now, you can also take in the Raimi-powered spectacle that is Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.

Moon Knight's finale episode was originally teased by Disney as the series finale, before becoming the season finale. Unlike the earlier Loki series, however, we don't get firm confirmation that Marc Spector and Steven Grant will return for another adventure. Director Mohamed Diab can't be sure of a Season 2 either, but says it would be "a waste" of the show's characters not to return.

Diab originally pitched the series to Marvel Studios and ended up directing episodes 1, 3, 5, and 6. Despite having a ton of creative input on the show, Diab admitted to IGN that he has no clue whether Moon Knight will get a follow-up.

"First of all, I am in the dark. Just like you, I have no clue about what's gonna happen in the future. And I'm not just saying that. Marvel loves the allure of the secrecy. I think it's part of the game that they're playing with the fans, and fans love that," Diab told IGN in an interview.

Diab said it would be "a waste not to continue the story with Marc and Steven," but he has no clue if that follow-up would be another season of the show, a film, or an appearance in another Marvel Studios project. This mirrors previous statements made by Ethan Hawke, who told IGN that the show "functions as a limited series," but could be "the origin story of a larger thing."

Despite not knowing whether there will be a Moon Knight follow-up, Diab said that he'd be excited to return to the character. "Oh absolutely. I would love to be part of expanding that world which I helped build and feel like it's mine. It feels like it's home for me and [co-producer Sara Goher]. So I'd love that to happen one day," he explained.

Without spoilers, Moon Knight ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, offering a tease of a character known by comics fans, who made their presence felt all over the series. There was also the inclusion of a brand-new Egyptian hero. Whether it's the series or season finale, Moon Knight Episode 6 definitely offered further directions for the story of Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Layla El-Faouly, and the ancient god Khonshu.

The next Disney+ Marvel series will be Ms. Marvel, which will begin airing on the streaming service on June 8.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.

Moon Knight's finale episode was originally teased by Disney as the series finale, before becoming the season finale. Unlike the earlier Loki series, however, we don't get firm confirmation that Marc Spector and Steven Grant will return for another adventure. Director Mohamed Diab can't be sure of a Season 2 either, but says it would be "a waste" of the show's characters not to return.

Diab originally pitched the series to Marvel Studios and ended up directing episodes 1, 3, 5, and 6. Despite having a ton of creative input on the show, Diab admitted to IGN that he has no clue whether Moon Knight will get a follow-up.

"First of all, I am in the dark. Just like you, I have no clue about what's gonna happen in the future. And I'm not just saying that. Marvel loves the allure of the secrecy. I think it's part of the game that they're playing with the fans, and fans love that," Diab told IGN in an interview.

Diab said it would be "a waste not to continue the story with Marc and Steven," but he has no clue if that follow-up would be another season of the show, a film, or an appearance in another Marvel Studios project. This mirrors previous statements made by Ethan Hawke, who told IGN that the show "functions as a limited series," but could be "the origin story of a larger thing."

Despite not knowing whether there will be a Moon Knight follow-up, Diab said that he'd be excited to return to the character. "Oh absolutely. I would love to be part of expanding that world which I helped build and feel like it's mine. It feels like it's home for me and [co-producer Sara Goher]. So I'd love that to happen one day," he explained.

Without spoilers, Moon Knight ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, offering a tease of a character known by comics fans, who made their presence felt all over the series. There was also the inclusion of a brand-new Egyptian hero. Whether it's the series or season finale, Moon Knight Episode 6 definitely offered further directions for the story of Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Layla El-Faouly, and the ancient god Khonshu.

The next Disney+ Marvel series will be Ms. Marvel, which will begin airing on the streaming service on June 8.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.

Developers, including Totally Accurate Battle Simulator's Landfall have begun signing an environment-focused anti-NFT pledge.

The pledge was set up by Climate Replay - a gaming-centred group made up of various developers raising awareness of the climate emergency - and six studios have signed it so far.

Alongside Landfall, KO_OP has signed the pledge (most known for the Lara Croft GO: The Mirror of Spirits expansion) alongside other developers Bearwaves, Godolphin Games, Cloudy Games LLC, and Brainless Labs. 127 individuals have also signed the pledge alongside the studios, featuring a mix of developers and fans.

Cory Scheviak, game designer and founder of Climate Replay, said the pledge has been well-received so far, and that developers see it, "as a way forward for the gaming industry to have a framework for responsibly implementing this technology. All in all, the response I've seen has been wholly constructive and well-received, both from fans of NFTs and critics," he added.

NFTs aim to allow for ownership of digital items and some developers and publishers have already explored letting gamers own certain unlocks, such as Ghost Recon Breakpoint's limited edition Quartz gear.

But implementing NFTs comes with certain gameplay risks, Climate Replay said on its website, as developers could alienate their player base, stop gamers just "playing for fun", encourage bots, and more. More seriously, implementing NFTs and their blockchain systems (which track and allow the dealing of NFTs) requires serious energy consumption, and therefore emissions, that are also bad for the environment.

As a result, Climate Replay's pledge is asking developers to only consider implementing NFTs if it's right for the gamer and makes use of technology that doesn't cause significant environmental damage.

Additionally, it says that implementing digital ownership technology should not: rely on unregulated cryptocurrency, disproportionately benefit early adopters or wealthier players, encourage informal jobs (grinding in a game solely to make money), or be implemented without full transparency.

The exploration of NFTs in games has been a widely controversial topic so far. Ex-Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé said last week that, while he's a believer in blockchain technology, it has to be implemented to work for the gamer first.

"I bet I'd have some takers here today if I wanted to sell my Animal Crossing island from the latest Nintendo Switch version. I'd like to be able to monetise that," he said. Though "it can't just be an approach by the developer [who thinks] that it's interesting or it's a way for them to make more money."

But that's the problem according to executives at PlatinumGames (developers of Bayonetta and Nier: Automata), who said that companies investing in NFTs are doing so purely as money-grabbing schemes instead of player-focused incentives.

Specific developers who've received severe criticism for NFT implementation include Worms studio Team17, who announced a range of "MetaWorms" collectibles before cancelling it a day later, and the wave of backlash even prompted employees to speak out on their overall poor treatment.

Beating the 24 hour record, STALKER 2 developer GSC Game World announced and cancelled its NFT plans within an hour, saying that, "based on the feedback we received, we've made a decision to cancel anything NFT-related."

NFTs were also banned from Steam as Valve president Gabe Newell said they were linked to "a lot of sketchy behaviours" and "out of control" fraud. This was reflected by smaller indie game marketplace itch.io, who called NFTs a scam and said anyone investing in them should re-evaluate their life choices.

Some companies such as GameStop and Ubisoft are sticking by NFTs though. The publisher's aforementioned inclusion of NFTs in Ghost Recon Breakpoint - the "most expensive" of which could only be obtained after playing for 600 hours - was announced in December to further backlash, but executive Nicolas Pouard said that gamers just don't get it.

"For now, because of the current situation and context of NFTs, gamers really believe it's first destroying the planet, and second just a tool for speculation," he said. "But what we are seeing first is the end game. The end game is about giving players the opportunity to resell their items once they're finished with them or they're finished playing the game itself."

Ubisoft announced it was ending support for Ghost Recon Breakpoint in April 2022.

Battlefield and FIFA publisher EA, like Ubisoft, expressed early interest in NFTs, saying it thinks they'll be "an important part of the future of gaming". This had changed a few months later though as EA announced it was "not driving hard" in the direction of NFTs, though not necessarily ruling them out.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Developers, including Totally Accurate Battle Simulator's Landfall have begun signing an environment-focused anti-NFT pledge.

The pledge was set up by Climate Replay - a gaming-centred group made up of various developers raising awareness of the climate emergency - and six studios have signed it so far.

Alongside Landfall, KO_OP has signed the pledge (most known for the Lara Croft GO: The Mirror of Spirits expansion) alongside other developers Bearwaves, Godolphin Games, Cloudy Games LLC, and Brainless Labs. 127 individuals have also signed the pledge alongside the studios, featuring a mix of developers and fans.

Cory Scheviak, game designer and founder of Climate Replay, said the pledge has been well-received so far, and that developers see it, "as a way forward for the gaming industry to have a framework for responsibly implementing this technology. All in all, the response I've seen has been wholly constructive and well-received, both from fans of NFTs and critics," he added.

NFTs aim to allow for ownership of digital items and some developers and publishers have already explored letting gamers own certain unlocks, such as Ghost Recon Breakpoint's limited edition Quartz gear.

But implementing NFTs comes with certain gameplay risks, Climate Replay said on its website, as developers could alienate their player base, stop gamers just "playing for fun", encourage bots, and more. More seriously, implementing NFTs and their blockchain systems (which track and allow the dealing of NFTs) requires serious energy consumption, and therefore emissions, that are also bad for the environment.

As a result, Climate Replay's pledge is asking developers to only consider implementing NFTs if it's right for the gamer and makes use of technology that doesn't cause significant environmental damage.

Additionally, it says that implementing digital ownership technology should not: rely on unregulated cryptocurrency, disproportionately benefit early adopters or wealthier players, encourage informal jobs (grinding in a game solely to make money), or be implemented without full transparency.

The exploration of NFTs in games has been a widely controversial topic so far. Ex-Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé said last week that, while he's a believer in blockchain technology, it has to be implemented to work for the gamer first.

"I bet I'd have some takers here today if I wanted to sell my Animal Crossing island from the latest Nintendo Switch version. I'd like to be able to monetise that," he said. Though "it can't just be an approach by the developer [who thinks] that it's interesting or it's a way for them to make more money."

But that's the problem according to executives at PlatinumGames (developers of Bayonetta and Nier: Automata), who said that companies investing in NFTs are doing so purely as money-grabbing schemes instead of player-focused incentives.

Specific developers who've received severe criticism for NFT implementation include Worms studio Team17, who announced a range of "MetaWorms" collectibles before cancelling it a day later, and the wave of backlash even prompted employees to speak out on their overall poor treatment.

Beating the 24 hour record, STALKER 2 developer GSC Game World announced and cancelled its NFT plans within an hour, saying that, "based on the feedback we received, we've made a decision to cancel anything NFT-related."

NFTs were also banned from Steam as Valve president Gabe Newell said they were linked to "a lot of sketchy behaviours" and "out of control" fraud. This was reflected by smaller indie game marketplace itch.io, who called NFTs a scam and said anyone investing in them should re-evaluate their life choices.

Some companies such as GameStop and Ubisoft are sticking by NFTs though. The publisher's aforementioned inclusion of NFTs in Ghost Recon Breakpoint - the "most expensive" of which could only be obtained after playing for 600 hours - was announced in December to further backlash, but executive Nicolas Pouard said that gamers just don't get it.

"For now, because of the current situation and context of NFTs, gamers really believe it's first destroying the planet, and second just a tool for speculation," he said. "But what we are seeing first is the end game. The end game is about giving players the opportunity to resell their items once they're finished with them or they're finished playing the game itself."

Ubisoft announced it was ending support for Ghost Recon Breakpoint in April 2022.

Battlefield and FIFA publisher EA, like Ubisoft, expressed early interest in NFTs, saying it thinks they'll be "an important part of the future of gaming". This had changed a few months later though as EA announced it was "not driving hard" in the direction of NFTs, though not necessarily ruling them out.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.