“Only Up!” Video Game Accused of Shilling Goblintown NFTs
“Only Up!”, the indie game that has taken streaming platforms by storm, is facing accusations of promoting the infamous Goblintown NFTs, according to some disgruntled reviewers on Steam. Despite this, many gamers either fail to notice these references or simply don’t mind them.
Since its inception, “Only Up!” has attracted a wide audience on Twitch, thanks to its wacky, Jack-and-the-Beanstalk-inspired platform-hopping gameplay. Developed by indie studio SCKR Games, “Only Up!” presents an eccentric world filled with unusual sights like floating fruits and Shiba Inu dogs.
At the time of writing, on a typical Monday night, the game currently has 157,650 live viewers on Twitch, outshining traditional favorites like League of Legends and Valorant. On Sunday, the game’s viewership peaked at 174,622 stemming from 468 channels on Twitch.
The bone of contention, however, arises from the game’s abundance of Goblintown artwork and logos scattered throughout its landscapes. The main character’s attire itself is emblazoned with a Goblintown creature face and project logo, triggering questions about the relationship between the indie developer and the NFT project.
Launched as a free mint in 2022, the Ethereum-based Goblintown project carved out a niche in the declining NFT market, famously inspiring a wave of strange moaning across Twitter Spaces. Despite the project’s seemingly unusual theme, Goblintown still managed to generate over $101 million in secondary trading volume, according to data from CryptoSlam.
The reason behind the project’s artwork and logos’ omnipresence in the game remains unclear. Since Goblintown was released under a Creative Commons 0 (CC0) license, anyone can use the artwork for commercial projects, even if they don’t own any of the NFTs. This has sparked speculation that SCKR Games might have capitalized on this free access to enhance their game’s visual aesthetics.
Inquiries about a potential collaboration between SCKR Games and Truth Labs, the creator of Goblintown, have so far gone unanswered. Nonetheless, Goblintown’s official Twitter account has been actively engaging with the game’s rise in popularity, tweeting screenshots and retweeting community comments, further muddying the waters regarding the nature of the connection between the two entities.
Despite the controversy, “Only Up!” continues to draw massive crowds and top the charts of the most-viewed games on Twitch. With its inherent streamer bait charm and potential Goblintown NFT boost, it has effectively become a hot topic in the gaming community. However, with some players accusing it of being an NFT shilling game, it remains to be seen how this saga will affect “Only Up!”‘s future popularity.
For gamers unfamiliar with the world of NFTs, this controversy shines a light on how intertwined cryptocurrency, NFTs, and gaming have become. It underscores the importance of understanding these elements, not just for financial decisions, but also for making informed choices about the games we play and support. As digital assets like NFTs continue to permeate various aspects of our lives, being knowledgeable about them becomes increasingly crucial. Whether gamers and streamers will embrace or reject this cross-pollination is a narrative that will unfold in the coming months.