Sequel to Iconic RPG Ni No Kuni to Feature NFT Integration and Play-to-Earn Mechanics

The new installment of Ni No Kuni, an RPG franchise brought by independent gaming studio Level 5 and animated by Studio Ghibli, has launched with blockchain elements present. The game, which has been designed for mobile and PC platforms, introduces a token system that lets players use their earnings outside of the game, and will feature support for NFTs in the future.

‘Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds’ Goes Blockchain

More and more game developers are now including blockchain and play-to-earn elements in their games as a means of innovation and empowering players. “Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds,” the new sequel to the acclaimed RPG franchise, developed by independent Japanese studio Level 5, has announced it will make use of NFTs and tokens to establish its own game economy.

The game, which features studio Ghibli animations and five different characters, each one with different attributes and stories, will use these elements to enrich the player experience. According to the official page of the game:

Our goal is to emphasize the game’s intrinsic fun factor and create a token economy structure that benefits both players and token holders.

Furthermore, the company added that these tokens will be used to “avoid speculative pre-sales and NFT pre-releases.”

Token Economies and Reception

Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds designed its token economy with a dual token system. The players will be able to earn two kinds of resources in the game: Territe and Asterite. Players will be able to exchange these resources for their corresponding Territe and Asterite tokens, with the company providing the exchange functionality.

The game has also built a roadmap with these blockchain elements at its center, with staking for the tokens planned to be launched in Q3, and NFT content to be included in the game in Q4. However, the form of this NFT integration has not been defined.

This inclusion of blockchain and NFT elements has been negatively received by some fans of the franchise, that are upset about the new mechanisms used by Level 5 to enrich the game. Other projects that have attempted or signaled their interest to include such elements in games, like Ubisoft and GSC Games, have also faced backlash.

However, companies like Square Enix have introduced these innovations as part of their business plan, with the company’s president expressing his support for play-to-earn and NFT elements at various opportunities.