S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl, sequel to first-person shooter game S.T.A.L.K.E.R., has cancelled its in-game NFT plans after receiving negative criticism on social media, largely from the gaming community. 

It’s the latest example of gamers rising up against NFTs—blockchain-based tokens representing ownership of a digital item. Last week, game maker Ubisoft met vocal backlash from gamers upon announcing its first three in-game NFTs for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. And in November, chat app Discord came under immediate fire from its core users after it teased a possible Metamask Ethereum wallet integration that has since been scrapped.

On December 15, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 developer GSC Game World announced it was including NFTs in its sequel. It started by revealing its most ambitious NFTs: three NPCs, or non-playable characters, dubbed “metahumans,” would be purchasable using blockchain technology. Buyers would then have their name or alias tied to that in-game character, giving them a cameo as a “bartender, comrade or enemy,” according to the announcement website. The NFTs were set to be sold through Dmarket, a third-party marketplace where players can buy and sell in-game items.

While some gamers supported the idea, others did not and expressed their frustration by creating memes. 

GSC’s NFT pitch may have been bungled due to a lack of education for fans. GSC provided little explanation as to why it was making NFTs,…