Everyone can agree that it’s at least a little funny when scammers throw fake NFT drops and cryptocurrency at fleece-clad idiots, but it’s less funny when innocent people get caught up in a scam. The publishers of Outerverse, a game about building automation and battling bosses, say scammers claim to be running a blockchain version of the game and using it to sell cryptocurrency. It seems like an obvious scam, which can’t be good for the image of the game.
The real Outerverse launched in Early Access this month, directed by Tbjbu2. It’s a crafting game about space travel, stopping at planets along the way to build giant automated industries and battle big bosses. The real Outerverse is in Early Access on Steam and the Epic Games Store. What it is certainly not is part of the blockchain cryptoverse metafiction.
Outverse Freedom Games publishers say it is scammed by the so-called Outerverse Metaverse & Decentralized Platform, a website that appears to be a version of Outerverse using cryptocurrency for…something? Freedom Games says it is “illegally using the real game’s assets and brand name” and yes, that is indeed an Outerverse illustration. This Outerverse shit is selling a cryptocurrency that’s supposed to do…something?
“$OUTERVERSE is a platform developed by Game Metaverse & DexSwap that connects players and allows token trading,” the website says. “This gives $OUTERVERSE real practical utility within the OUTERVERSE ecosystem. Embrace a platform where gamers and blockchain converge!”
Dude these are just words. No specific words. Just a few words. I also love that a link pointing to a section on “tokenomics” (a real cryptocurrency term) is labeled “takenomics,” a delicious Freudian slip. Even the site selling $OUTERVERSE warns: “Anyone can create a BEP20 token on BSC with any name, including creating fake versions of existing tokens and tokens that claim to represent projects that have no token”. I can’t imagine reading all of this and thinking “Yes, this is for me.”
But while anyone buying this makes more money than sense, being associated with a scam would be a problem for actual gaming. Freedom Games says it has contacted the company hosting the website to have it taken down, but doesn’t have high hopes. They also say their legal team is considering “any and all remedies.” I think it’s unlikely that anyone who is fooled by this would know that the developers shouldn’t be blamed either.
