Video Games As NFTs Are Bad For The Environment Fans

Video Games As NFTs Are Bad For The Environment & Fans.
Game companies like Sega are pushing into the realm of NFTs, but the consequences could be serious for both fans and the global climate.
Sega recently announced a partnership to sell NFTs based on its classic franchises - presumably, games like Sonic the Hedgehog , Altered Beast , and Crazy Taxi - as well unannounced titles coming down the road. The effort will get underway by the summer of 2021, but fans should be concerned, not just for what NFTs will mean for gaming but for the potential impact on global warming. On a closer look, the situation is conflicted at best.
NFT stands for "non-fungible token," a technology that allows authenticating digital goods via blockchain. The benefit, ideally, is that creators can sell art, music, or other content in a way that isn't easily copied, since ownership has to be transferred. Blockchain makes this data virtually uncrackable. In fact, Christie's recently auctioned off a piece of digital art for $69 million, and businesses like the NBA have begun selling their own NFTs.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY.
The (short-term) problem for fans is that the profit potential for gaming NFTs is so high, collectibles which might otherwise be bundled with games or sold as physical objects will probably be held back. For cryptocurrency Sega, that could hypothetically include some of the original production sketches of Sonic, or a game's original soundtrack. Neither is strictly necessary to anyone, but selling them as NFTs to a few hundred buyers would keep them out of the public's reach for interest NFT projects years. Even worse would be producing limited-edition games - were the last owner unable to remember their login or otherwise manage ownership, that version of the game would be lost forever. There are similar issues with conventional DRM, but NFTs are by definition restricted runs, unlike something on Steam or crypto wallet may make money the PlayStation Store.
Why NFTs Are Bad For The Environment.
The deeper crisis is that NFTs are usually tied to cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin. Mining cryptocurrency is extremely inefficient - the University of Cambridge notes that for Bitcoin alone, annual power consumption is forecast to hit roughly 129 terawatt-hours. At least some of that will have to come from non-renewable sources of energy like coal or interest NFT projects natural gas, translating into local pollution and rising greenhouse gases. NFT vendors do, of course, have the option of paying for carbon offsets, but that doesn't solve the pollution issue and bites into the profits that motivated them.
There is some environmental benefit to NFTs - one less artbook means fewer trees chopped, and one less figurine means reduced plastic or metal consumption, never mind the impact of packaging and shipping. But they're far from an ideal solution, and transparently built with profits in mind rather than the public good. It may be that Sega and the rest of the games industry will have to be content with less restrictive digital content if it wants to satisfy all concerns.