Troy Baker, an acclaimed and beloved voice actor known for his work throughout the video game industry, outraged fans after announcing his participation in a non-fungible token (NFT) project.Baker revealed his collaboration with Voiceverse NFT, a company specializing in audio NFTs, on Twitter. "I’m partnering with @VoiceverseNFT to explore ways where together we might bring new tools to new creators to make new things, and allow everyone a chance to own & invest in the IP’s they create," writes Baker. "We all have a story to tell. You can hate. Or you can create. What’ll it be?" The announcement was met by an overwhelmingly negative response as many accused the actor of "cashing in" on a form of crypto technology that many consider a scam.
Baker has yet to issue a follow-up statement regarding his original message but did briefly note that his partner company will not be making an NFT out his voice. As specified on its website, Voiceverse offers users "the world's first voice NFTs" which it hopes to eventually integrate into crypto games and communities. Users that wish to mint an NFT of their voice will be able to use it "across the metaverse for real-time communication or for content creation."
While Troy Baker's announcement has stirred up controversy, the voice actor isn't the first notable name in the video game industry to throw their hat into the NFT ring. Publisher Ubisoft was recently criticized after it announced that NFTs would be implemented in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, a decision that has seemingly yet to prove successful. In a similar vein, Square Enix was blasted by fans after announcing that it would be investing in crypto gaming in 2022, while Konami's decision to celebrate Castlevania by hosting an NFT auction was similarly maligned by players.
Non-fungible tokens are a form of crypto technology that allows digital items to be authenticated by assigning them a unique serial number and receipt. NFTs have become notorious amongst denizens of the internet due to how much power is required to mint a single token with many citing them to be environmentally hazardous.
It's not just the video game industry that's adopting NFT technology. Comic book artist and writer Mike Mignola recently issued a statement warning fans about a collection of Hellboy artwork that was being sold as NFTs. The creator notes that any NFTs based on his IP are unauthorized and are being sold without his consent. Similarly, the official Twitter account of the late Stan Lee was recently used to market an NFT of Chakra, The Invincible, sparking outrage across social media.
Source: Twitter