GameStop NFT “creator” is suspended for selling NFTs of indie games they didn’t own

An NFT minter on GameStop’s newly launched NFT marketplace has been caught selling games they didn’t make and had no authority to sell.

As first reported by Ars Technica, the “interactive NFTs” of the NiFTy Arcade collection were being minted and sold without the creators’ permission, “much less any arrangement for the creators to share in any crypto profits”.

GameStop has since confirmed that the person behind NiFTy Arcade has been suspended, but Ars reports that he is still “holding onto the tends of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency he made by selling those NFTs before the suspension”. Furthermore, the unlicensed games are also still fully accessible from GameStop’s servers.

“If people find value in these NFTs, that’s a bonus, but my intent is to create and showcase games that are playable within NFT marketplaces and within NFT wallets,” NiFTy Arcade creator Nathan Ello reportedly told Ars. “Should someone want the convenience of playing the game directly from their wallet or their own profile page on the marketplace without having to navigate to mine, then they’re welcome to buy a copy.”

Ello insists the games were taken from “open source game repositories approved for commercial use” and that one of the games, Galatic Wars, had an “unlicensed” tag, but Ars was able to discover that Worm Nom Nom’s license, for example, clearly prohibited commercial use. Ello has since confirmed that they “never sought the necessary permission from the original creators before selling them”.

“This person didn’t contact me to ask me anything. He just took my game and sold it,” Galactic Wars creator Borja “Volcano Bytes” de Tena told Ars. “If you want to profit from my work, I think you should at least ask.

“I’ve been working on video games for years, but VolcanoBytes is not something I do for money,” de Tena added. “It’s my personal project… something I do mainly for love, my income is not that of a real business. But that’s my work, and [it] shouldn’t be exploited by anyone without my permission.”

Ello says his account on the GameStop NFT storefront has been suspended “until [they] have the IP issues related to my initial collection”. GameStop has yet to respond to requests for comment.

Talking of NFTs: early footage of Deadrop has hit the internet, giving us a look at the project backed by controversial streamer Guy Beahm, AKA Dr Disrespect.

However, fans of Beahm have given the footage a mixed reception – especially after the project was hyped up by the streamer and compared to Call of Duty. In June, a widely-shared comment by Beahm stated that Deadrop “blows out anything from the COD engine”.

What we’re seeing is a look at Deadrop as it stands currently, for those who paid $50 for a Founders Access Pass (yes, that’s the one which includes a procedurally-generated NFT for your character avatar).