NFTs in sports games: EA and Nike announce collaboration
The video game giant Electronic Arts is joining forces with Nike. In future, NFTs from the sporting goods supplier are to be integrated into EA games.
In a blog post, EA announces that NFTs from Nike's ".Swoosh" collection will be integrated into EA sports games in the future. Specific games are not mentioned. However, it can be assumed that the NFTs will be integrated into this year's "Madden NFL", "NHL" and "EA Sports FC" (formerly "FIFA") games. More information will follow in the coming months.
Nike already launched its metaverse platform ".Swoosh" in November last year. Members of Nike's Web3 community can buy, swap and design virtual items of clothing, such as sports shoes or jerseys, together. The company already hinted at last year's announcement of the platform that the virtual items could also be used in games in the future.
Source: Twitter / @dotSWOOSH
In the official announcement of the partnership, the word "NFT" is never mentioned. Instead, EA and Nike only talk about "virtual creations" that can be used in games.
Not surprising, as NFT experiments by major publishers have been extremely poorly received by the gaming community in the past. Due to the negative reactions, the topic has been put on ice for most manufacturers and studios - at least for the time being. Of the larger publishers, only Square Enix, Konami and Ubisoft stand out, standing behind their NFT and Metaverse projects despite ongoing criticism.
The fact that EA of all companies is tackling the issue is surprising. The publisher has already come under increasing criticism in the past due to controversial game mechanics in its sports games. In April, the addictive loot boxes in "FIFA" games were categorised as illegal gambling in court in Austria.
Source: Youtube / EA SPORTS FIFA
EA itself hopes that the collaboration will enable players to personalise their virtual sports experience even more and to network and compete even more with other sports fans. During the huge NFT hype around two years ago, Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts, already spoke favourably about NFTs and affirmed that "NFTs will play an important role in the future of the video games industry".
Cover image: EA Sports
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