It’s been a rocky few years, but the massive push forAI and NFTs in gaminghas been largely on the decline. This whole tactic was almost entirely intended to harpoon the top 1% of gamers who spend loads ofcash on microtransactions, so it’s no wonder the general public would still be cautious of games likeCatly.
STALKER 2 Already Turned A Profit, According To Director
That took less than a month.
But still, when watching the trailer and knowing what type of gamesNFT profiteerstend to lean towards, the red flags slowly become neon red.A game where you dress up and collect various colorful, fluffy, realistic cats is calling for a developer to begin implementing a blockchain.
But, theCatlydirectors are still claiming innocence. Following the AI allegations for the trailer, PR representatives continue totell sites like PCGamerthat no AI was used. Furthermore, they have asserted that no blockchain or NFTs are being put in the game.
To be fair, we must maintain that the company claims its innocence.As much as we’re prepared to criticize any wrongdoers, we also must agree that instantly blaming a company for allegations that have neither ultimately proven true nor false can be harmful.
According to PCGamer, who reached out to aCatly, a representative “said there is ‘zero blockchain technology’ in Catly… and ‘no NFTs.’” Honestly, a good portion of the trailer itself appears to have been created by humans, with animations and textures that must be man-made.
That said, it gets much more challenging to defend them when looking at promotional images or text that switch on our AI-detecting spider senses.For instance, just looking at the above image reminds me of the recentGoogle Gemni commercialaimed at exploring the many creative photos you can use AI tools to make.
Although we can maintain that the trailer was mostly hand-crafted with human animation and CGI, that still leaves up to debate whether the game hasNFTs or Blockchain technology. Even if the devs remain innocent until proven guilty, some surprising claims continue to stir the pot.
The thread above describes a few massive red flags that have flown under the radar. First,there are claims that developers are already connected to NFT and Blockchain projects.A similar whistle was blown forother scandalous NFT projectswhere you’ll find connections though the developer’s past.
Some other projects, such as the gameAlien Meow,appear to have been trademarked by the same group or person behindCatly. Once again, no representatives atCatlyhave directly confirmed or denied any of these claims.
10 Games Where It Was All A Dream
Games like Super Mario Bros. 2 and Prey take place entirely in dreams or dreamlike situations.
A combination of damning evidence, a lack of substantial claims, and the eye test where we all just assume many of thesepictures to be AI-createdmake this whole thing feel like the NFT, blockchain, and artificial intelligence grift that somehow got ahold of the Game Awards.
At the very least, if they ultimately releasean AI-driven, crypto-invested game, there is no way any audience will latch on or let it slide. If it does become the cat-collecting game of our dreams, then props toCatlyfor getting it done and pushing aside AI and NFT premises.
We do hope that someone can officially prove wrongdoing or innocence.Still, until then,it appears that many of the statements from Catly have been white lies, protecting what progress they’ve made and holding their fluffy cat tail between their legs.
10 PS2 Cozy Games You Need To Play
Cozy games are all the rage now, but they were a thing back in the day, too.
