Team17 recently announced their plans to tackle NFTs through the MetaWorms NFT program, but it looks like they’re backing away from the decision altogether following massive backlash from the community and business partners. The Worms NFTs were not met with a positive reception, leading to several of their industry partners pulling themselves away from the company.

In light of the backlash, Team17 released a statement confirming that they’re now ditching their plans to implement Worms-themed NFTs. The original plan was to partner with a third party called Reality Gaming Group. They wouldn’t implement the NFTs into the Worms games, but rather sell them as “generative NFT art projects.”

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Team17’s full statement reads:

“Team17 is today announcing an end to the MetaWorms NFT project. We have listened to our Teamsters, development partners, and our games’ communities, and the concerns they’ve expressed, and have therefore taken the decision to step back from the NFT space.”

Multiple developers who worked with Team17, including Overcooked‘s Ghost Town Games and Yooka-Laylee‘s Playtonic, released their own statements where they resented the idea of NFT implementation and criticized Team17 for their decision to lean into the crypto-trend.

NFTs continue to be hotly debated about its place in the gaming industry. Team17 wasn’t the first studio to double back on their NFT plans, as Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World previously tried to implement NFTs into their upcoming game, only to be met with criticism from the industry. They quickly backtracked on the idea altogether too.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft remains relentless on their implementation of NFTs through Ubisoft Quartz, which allows players to earn NFTs through Ghost Recon Breakpoint. An executive previously stated that players simply “didn’t get it” and would warm up to the idea eventually. We honestly doubt that.

Source: Team17