Today, indie publisher Team17 has announced that Worms will return after the disappointing release of Worms Rumble. But rather than returning the series to its turn-based artillery roots, Team17 is instead bringing back Worms as something much, much worse - NFTs.
𝐆Team17 and Reality Gaming Group have partnered to produce a new line of Worms NFTs. Following in the footsteps of va🐬rious ape-based projects, will feature a number of AI-generated variations on the same general worm design.
"Worms remains an iconic franchise in global gaming with tens of millions of fans around the world, so we're really excited and proud to announce our partnership with Reality Gaming Group ahead of the release of highly limited edition artwork NFTs later this year," said Team17 head of publishing Harley Homewood in a statement.
The ex♓act number of NFTs to be provided and their release date are still unknown, but we do know that Team17 is trying to get ahead of the primary complaint against NFTs. To be as environmentally friendly as possible, Reality Gaming Group is minting MetaWorms using a "side chain" of the Etherium mainnet that promises to use less power than traditional NFTs.
Additionally, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Coin 4 Planet, an organization that attempts to offset the environmental costs of cryptocurrencies by investing in sustainability efforts. The donat🍌ion will specifically go to its Reefed Farms plan, which helps turn food waste into soil via worm beds.
Team17 apparently hasn't done a lot to support MetaWorms. A nascent has a bunch of empty chats and a post that indicates a roadmap hasn't even been created yet. reports that most of Team17's workforce had no idea the company was getting into NFTs, either.
As you'd expect by now, the response has been . In fact, one of Team17's partner studios has .
In a statement to Eurogamer, Team17 says the MetaWorms project comes from its "newest third-party partner so they can produce collectible digital artwork based on one of the most beloved IPs in indie games, ꧒in a similar way to already available physical merchandise." Team17 also has "no plans" to make NFTs or play-to-earn mechanics a part of any of its games.