Chaosium Suspends NFT Plans

After widespread backlash across social media, Chaosium has announced that it has suspended its plans for future NFT releases.

All of us at Chaosium are deeply concerned by the issues raised around the VeVe digital collectable releases from last July. We take these concerns very seriously—our fans and the communities built around Chaosium are our lifeblood. We go back a long way, and that means a lot to us. We want to make sure you are comfortable with the way we do business.

While we address the concerns of the tabletop gaming community we have halted our plans for future NFT releases.

Let’s go through what’s happened to date:

• In early 2019 we began discussions with VeVe. At the time NFTs and digital collectables were relatively unknown tech (at least in the TTRPG sphere).
• VeVe is managed by long-time fans and collectors, and we completed multiple rounds of due diligence before deciding to move forward and granting VeVe a license to sell digital collectables based on our IP. It is notable that VeVe’s other NFT licensors include Disney, Marvel, DC Comics, Warner Bros., Star Trek, Star Wars, Cartoon Network, Adventure Time, James Bond, GhostBusters, and many other leading popular culture brands. VeVe even has a license from the United States Postal Service.
• The environmental impact of VeVe's NFTs was crucial in our decision making. VeVe operates on a blockchain platform, (Immutable X), that is carbon neutral. The creation of VeVe NFTs, and their trading takes place “off-chain,” reducing the environmental footprint of VeVe NFTs by 99.9% when compared to those minted on Ethereum.
• Chaosium publicized VeVe’s initial offering (July 2021) across all of our social channels. Our announcements didn’t receive much attention from the gaming press or TTRPG community, but the release was successful and well received, demonstrating an enthusiastic and sizable community of Cthulhu fans on VeVe.
• With our licensee TYPE40, we built an NFT creation model that is protective and respectful of the artists involved—the digital collectables created for VeVe are all entirely new and original. The artists involved share fully in the proceeds of their sale.

However, we understand that a lot has changed since we started down this road in 2019. The issues relating to NFTs are increasingly complex and controversial. In recent months, the debate has become prominent and contentious. Bad actors in this sphere have received widespread coverage. Many people are justifiably baffled, incredulous, and deeply skeptical.

Based on both our research and experience with them, we believe that VeVe is an ethical company, pioneering a new digital community for collectors which uses this distributed ledger technology in a legitimate, meaningful, and environmentally responsible way.

We appreciate that many of our fans are angry and disappointed. We hear you. Your concerns must be listened to and addressed. That is why, in cooperation with TYPE40 and VeVe, we have made the decision outlined above. We do not have another scheduled release on VeVe or any other NFT marketplace. We will never require anyone to own an NFT/digital collectible to enjoy any Chaosium product or game.

Thank you for sharing your feedback. Thank you for patiently waiting for our reply. So much passion for what we do is a good thing. It’s been that way since 1975, and in this digital age we remain The Chaosium.

 

[RealAlHazred]

There is nothing in the Updates about crypto. I did find the March update amusing because of this line:

"We’re aiming to bring a good game and we don’t feel like not rushing something that’s not ready or polished to market. It’s an ambitious title for a new studio, we are well-funded and we are aggressively hiring talent, we’re not being naïve, about this, it is just a big job.”

 

[darjr]

You know, this is depressing. Am I going to have to look at every RPG publisher's kickstarters in earnest to see if they are diddling around in risky vehicles with the money or depending on that maybe-never-come-in-money to actually produce their product on kickstarter? Makes me want to only ever support small companies with 1 or 2 employees (creators) and only when the costs are low so there's not much at stake. Especially since these companies could be doing these stupid shenanigans without disclosing...

Chaosium, I guess I'll be sticking with your older legacy products since this just shows I ought not to be trusting you...

I sometimes think is 'No ******* Thinking'.... buyers and creators with ridiculous expectations.

And crypto is like futures or other bubble-driven systems where the big fish and the insiders can make money by sheering the little guys...

Chaosim isn’t doing NFTs or crypto. They walked away from it as far as I know.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Chaosim isn’t doing NFTs or crypto. They walked away from it as far as I know.

To be clear, they said they were "suspending" their plans for now. They did not say they would never do crypto.

 

[eyeheartawk]

To be clear, they said they were "suspending" their plans for now. They did not say they would never do crypto.

I noticed that too, but with the absolute pummeling crypto and crypto derived assets have taken of late I'm guessing it'll probably become permanent.

 

[RealAlHazred]

I noticed that too, but with the absolute pummeling crypto and crypto derived assets have taken of late I'm guessing it'll probably become permanent.

Eh, there's always someone who'll fall for the grift. Otherwise, there wouldn't be grifters!

 

[Grendel_Khan]

You know, this is depressing. Am I going to have to look at every RPG publisher's kickstarters in earnest to see if they are diddling around in risky vehicles with the money or depending on that maybe-never-come-in-money to actually produce their product on kickstarter? Makes me want to only ever support small companies with 1 or 2 employees (creators) and only when the costs are low so there's not much at stake. Especially since these companies could be doing these stupid shenanigans without disclosing...

Untamed Isles was supposed to be a MMORPG, which you should always be extremely leery of on Kickstarter. So yeah, always exercise a ton of caution with any videogame Kickstarters. But no, you don't need to assume TTRPG Kickstarters are crypto-involved. If they are, then chances are you're backing some pretty grifty nonsense anyway.