In essence, yes. These blockchain games exist for two reasons:
Problem is nobody likes or wants NFTs.
I feel as if this is the first real sign that this shit has had an impact. Minecraft isn't a small community by any means, and them ditching the huge subreddit over this is shocking.
There are several pages in this thread so these might've been mentioned already, but
Mirror's Edge, the original.
Tomb Raider (2013) and up
If you enjoy the Ubisoft formula, Far Cry 6
Saints Row 2 and up
Mass Effect franchise before Andromeda
They're publishing Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2 will be digital-only.
Make a product, make it good
I hypothesize that if this worked, Xbox would be outselling right now. From a features standpoint, Xbox has been on the ball for years trying to improve their platform. Backwards compatibility, a cheap 1080p console to go along with their 4K flagship, 1440p support from day one of this generation instead of taking nearly two years to put it in, Xbox Adaptive Controller and Copilot for accessibility, Series X|S having Xbox One controller compatibility, replaceable controller batteries so that slow controller death isn't an issue, Microsoft Rewards exists to get stuff like Xbox giftcards for just playing games and typing shit into Bing, a fully-featured Chromium-based browser (meaning you can do pretty much anything on there that you could do on a normal browser, like GeForce Now or browser games like this (and yes, it works with the Xbox controller on the console), Gamepass (specifically Ultimate, which comes with hundreds of games on its own, EA Play Basic, a bunch of stuff for Riot Games games, game streaming, "perks" like game DLC, movies, and trials for services, and more point-gaining opportunities for MS Rewards), and on top of all of that, you can pay $20 for developer access and install emulators for pretty much any console Xbox 360 or below.
On the PlayStation end, they also have a lot of great features, like the DualSense controller (built-in controller microphone is a super nice-to-have, the DualSense haptics are sick as fuck when they get used to the fullest, and they've got gyro functionality for console users wanting to play with gyro aim in competitive shooters), the fancy PS+ guides feature, the most high-end VR headset on the market, and I really appreciate them not using a proprietary expansion format that completely fucks people all the way from launch until like a couple of weeks ago when Seagate exclusivity runs out finally, but that's about where my praise of the platform itself ends (Edit: The monthly PS+ games are also way better than the XBLG games, which is excellent for people who don't want the Netflix-style subscriptions but do pay the online fee).
The real value to people seems to come pretty much just from what games are on the platform. So,
and people pick what they need based on WHAT THEY ACTUALLY NEED.
they actually are. People just wanna be able to play the cool new games, and Xbox hasn't had any in a long time. Starfield might actually be the first game since the Xbox One where a large amount of people are pissed off that it's exclusive to Xbox, whereas PlayStation gets game after game that Xbox gamers would really like to have. Hence, exactly why they bought Bethesda and made Starfield exclusive.
Edit to add: A new PS5 would cost 7 times as much in my country. That's also another thing to consider.
While a PS5 would be notably better, I don't think it's 7x better. Get the PS4, there are over a decade of great games for it.
I knew it. As soon as Epic announced their bullshit I saw the end in sight.
People never cared. Just look at CoD, MWII was the fastest-selling game in franchise history and it's the same company. People don't give a damn unless it personally affects them.
I dunno, I don't really see it as "respecting my time." Historically, games like this have been hit or miss for me, so I never wanted to blow over $20 on it, and I certainly don't feel like $35. I would much rather just play something else I already own or can get for cheaper until I can buy the game on a whim instead of having to commit and play "check every nook and cranny for deal-breakers during the refund window."
I would also far prefer something like what BattleBit Remastered is doing. Game came out for $15, it's one of the best shooters I've played in years, so I bought the $20 supporter pack for some in-game cosmetics. Low entry price and rewards for further support. I fundamentally disagree with raising prices on existing products and hate this idea of price FOMO that has extended past early access.
They wouldn't be doing this if Sony hadn't kept doing it and the gaming community kept trashing the Xbox One for "not having exclusives." Phil Spencer has gone on record saying that he doesn’t like exclusives.
They're just playing the game by its rules.
The machine has already done it's prediction and the contents of box B has already been set. Which box/boxes do you take?
If my choices don't matter and the boxes are predetermined, what point is there to only taking one box? The machine already made its choice and filled the boxes, so taking both boxes is always the correct answer. Either I get $1,000,000 if the machine thought I would take both, or I get $1,001,000,000 if it didn't. This is a false dilemma, there is never a reason to take just one box.
I mean, the answer kinda just has to be something like Call of Duty to make sense. Think about how much evolution that series has gone through over the years, and how many components there are between campaign, multiplayer, Zombies, spec ops, battle royale, and most recently DMZ. It's probably the most variety you'd get from just one franchise.