Blowfish's F2P Mecha-Space Game "Phantom Galaxies" Looks Neat...But Sadly It's NFT Based

A new multiplayer sci-fi RPG has been announced by developer/publisher Blowfish. The Animoca Brands subsidiary revealed Phantom Galaxies will enter early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store on November 2. Set after an interstellar war, the game drops players in a universe where they play as mech pilots protecting space colonies from pirates and aliens.

It’s a nice premise and the trailer looks pretty cool. It’s also an NFT game. If you go to the download page of the game’s official site, it explains that players will need a “Phantom Galaxies Collection NFT” in order to access the game’s beta test. They’ll also need to have one of two wallets and belong to a Cohort of NFT holders. Early Access, when it starts on November 2nd, won't have this NFT purchase requirement. The game will be F2P with optional participation in the NFT aspects of the game.

If NFTs don’t bother you, then this might be worth a look. That said, NFTs aren't doing so well right now. Business Insider reports that 95% of NFTs are likely worthless and, as Skillshot CEO and Co-Founder of Hi-Rez studios pointed out, NFTs aren’t really a lot of good to gamers, since there isn’t, and likely won’t be, a way to move them from game to game.

EDITOR'S UPDATE: If you're wondering how an NFT game managed to get on Steam given Valve's stance on those games, so were we, so we asked the team. Turns out, the Steam version of the F2P game won't interface with the NFT options the game offers. Only the Epic Games Store version and the version on the game's website will. Steam players can still see NFT items players on other platforms purchased and can play with those players, they just can't buy the items through Steam.