Ni No Kuni controversy, NFT and Gacha Gaming

Ni No Kuni has launched to a controversial reception with the announcement made by NetMarble that the game has plans to incorporate NFT functionality into the game. NFT or Non-Fungible Tokens as they are called …

Ni No Kuni has launched to a controversial reception with the announcement made by NetMarble that the game has plans to incorporate NFT functionality into the game. NFT or Non-Fungible Tokens as they are called in the Cryptocurrency community have recently been seen by companies as another way to monetise the game for gacha players as well as normal players.

This issue has always divided the community into two with some small supporters of it who think it would give them more control over their account and equipment and the other majority of gamers adamant that this would lead to a downward spiral of over-monetising and incorporation of real-life money and value into a virtual game.

Game companies are usually hesitant to add this mechanic and the gacha games being so high ROI (Return on investment) as they are for companies makes the cost of incorporating them not worth antagonising the player base, this can be seen with other gacha games like the ones planned by Hoyoverse, Zenless Zone Zero and Honkai Star Rail.

Credits: Netmarble

Why is Ni No Kuni adding NFT’s?

It is likely that the company behind them, Netmarble is adding NFT’s into the game in order to create a new avenue of income for their games aside from the traditional gacha method of earning the majority of money from so-called whales or big spenders in the game with another majority coming from daily or battle pass spenders. Adding NFT’s would add an element of financial incentive and therefore allow the possibility for players to “earn” the currency and trade this in some form for a form of cryptocurrency or token.

The major benefit of course would flow to the company and not the player as players will have little control over the asset and little control over the currency itself. This holds true for Netmarble as they would surely decide to go ahead on their own coin, Mobiecoin the blockchain currency they are currently using for one of their games, A3: Still Alive.

Is Ni No Kuni popular?

Ni No Kuni is a beloved IP developed by Bandai Namco and originally published in Japan by the company, Level-5. The game features beautiful drawn graphics and animations that drew players alongside traditional RPG mechanics. This game was inspired by Studio Ghibli, a beloved franchise for all anime and otaku fans in the community and features many coming of life tales that are aimed at children as well as adults looking to relive their childhood.

Credits: Ni No Kuni | Level 5

The game was an instant hit and is known to be one of the best modern role playing games with many reviewers and players loving the storyline, characters and visualisation of the game. The soundtrack and other aspects of the game also highly contributed to what was seen as a beautiful “Ghibli” like world that players could indulge themselves in.

How does Ni No Kuni: cross worlds fit the Ni No Kuni original universe and plot?

The original Ni no Kuni is the story of a young boy who loses his mother at a young age and learns of a fantasy world in need of help. Entering this fantasy world to save it, he encounters a variety of people, new things to do, new things to eat and new experiences that can teach him about the world around him and also about himself.

The second Ni no Kuni game also features a similar plot of a young person finding himself in the world. The character is yet again thrown into a fantasy world where they are on a journey to save it and also save themselves in the process.

Ni No Kuni Cross Worlds will be a totally different experience. In this game, unlike a fantasy world isekai that the otaku fanbase is used to at this point the game focuses on a VR element and experience. The game will see players being transported into a VR world in-game with fantasy-like settings. However, this of course changes with more nefarious plots in the background revolving around the corporation and also an AI companion of yours.

Will Ni No Kuni have a gacha lootbox element?

It is inevitable that this game will have a gacha element which would work alongside their Crypto/NFT mechanics. It is not known yet if they will somehow make this a part of the meta of the game in order to bait players into spending money in the game on either the virtual currency or on the NFT they plan on selling to players but it is expected since Netmarble does have a reputation in the industry from heavy monetisation of their various games. Players should read our guide on how to play gacha games for F2P and low spending players to make sure no one falls into this money trap.

Only spend money if it is reasonable to do so, and never spend it just to keep up with the meta of the game as it is always shifting. Right now, the NFT element has not been added to Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds however when it is added this might cause some players to be more tempted to spend as they might see it as an investment however this is not a wise choice especially for storing your hard-earned money.

We at Gacha Gamers believe in a gaming environment that is safe for all players and free of real-world financial jargon to confuse younger or less educated players about the value of their assets.