NFT items in Diablo 4

Blizzard Exec Says No to NFTs

On April 17, 2022, responding to a claim that Blizzard was polling the public's interest on NFTs (non-fungible tokens), Blizzard's President, Mike Ybarra, denied that the company was planning to utilize NFTs in its games [1]:

As leader of the company's game development and operations, Ybarra's answer on NFTs is a strong indicator that they won't be in Diablo 4 and possibly upcoming Blizzard games.

Overwatch Dev Also Anti-NFT

Jorge Murillo, a Senior Designer on the Overwatch 2 team, echoed similar sentiments on NFTs [2] and other cryptocurrency technologies back in January 2022:

Murillo doesn't speak for Blizzard as a whole, especially the Diablo 4 team, but being a senior decision maker on one of the company's biggest games under development may say volumes about the company's internal attitudes towards NFTs.

Microsoft acquiring Blizzard

Also in early 2022, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Blizzard for $69 billion [3]. If the deal goes through, Microsoft will be in the driver's seat to determine whether Blizzard's games integrate NFTs and other cryptocurrency technologies. So far, Microsoft has only dipped its toes into NFTs, with the recent funding ($27 million) of Palm NFT Studio [4], a platform for artists to sell and share their work on. That said, with NFTs and cryptocurrency becoming more mainstream, this could be a start to Microsoft's efforts in the space.

Microsoft bans crypto in Minecraft

However, in July 2022, Microsoft dampened expectations that its games would be crypto-friendly: Mojang Studios, the maker of Minecraft and owned by Microsoft, said it will ban the presence of all blockchain technologies in Minecraft [5]. The main reason given was that NFTs create an environment of competition and scarcity, which goes against Minecraft's inclusive spirit.

One could say that Diablo is a more adult-oriented and competitive game (especially with PVP) than Minecraft, but this is still negative news for NFT supporters.

Effect of "crypto winter"

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and NFT projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club hit all-time highs in November 2021. Thereafter, the cryptocurrency market nosedived along with the general economy. Bitcoin went from $68,000 to now $20,000 as of June 2022, and Ethereum topped out at $4,800 and is now trading around $1,000. Large game developers like Blizzard will likely be hesitant for some time to subject their players, especially younger ones, to that level of risk.

Guild of Guardians NFT-based ARPG

One upcoming action RPG will take advantage of NFT items: Guild of Guardians. The free-to-play mobile game has Diablo-like gameplay and will allow players to own the items they find as NFTs on the blockchain. Once launched, if the game takes off, it could provide inspiration (and some competition?) for Blizzard to utilize NFTs as well.