Look, I\u2019ve been around the block a few times in the gaming world\u2014long enough to see trends come and go like diarrhetic hitboxes in a battle royale. But if there\u2019s one thing that hasn\u2019t changed since the dark ages of 2021, it\u2019s Josef Fares\u2019 unfiltered disdain for NFTs. And honestly? I love the guy for it.

Remember when he stormed The Game Awards and yelled \u201cF*** the Oscars\u201d? Classic Josef. Fast-forward to the It Takes Two glory days, and there he was again, telling anyone who\u2019d listen that he\u2019d sooner take a bullet to the patella than stick blockchain jpegs in his games. That\u2019s not just talk. That\u2019s a man who knows that a well-designed co-op vacuum cleaner boss fight is worth more than a thousand procedurally generated bored apes.

Now, we\u2019re in 2026, and I\u2019ve been watching the industry flail around like a Soulsborne player discovering gravity for the first time. Let\u2019s rewind. Back when Fares made those comments, the NFT craze was in its toddler phase\u2014everybody was tripping over themselves to tokenize anything that moved. Ubisoft, bless their hearts, dove in headfirst with Quartz. They told us gamers just \u201cdidn\u2019t get it.\u201d They put serial numbers on virtual hats and expected us to thank them. The backlash was swift, loud, and frankly delicious. By the time STALKER 2 flirted with the idea, the internet collectively lost its mind, and GSC Game World backtracked faster than a speedrunner discovering a wrong warp. The whole NFT-in-games experiment was a spectacular dumpster fire, and we all got to roast marshmallows over it.

Fares, meanwhile, was busy crafting stories that actually matter. While other studios were scrambling to figure out how to squeeze micro-crypto-transactions into their live-service slop, Hazelight doubled down on what makes games art: emotional connection, creative co-op mechanics, and the sheer audacity to make you cry over a toy elephant. It Takes Two swept Game of the Year awards because it respected our intelligence and our time\u2014two things NFTs prey on like a goblin in a loot cave.

Let me paint you a picture of the alternate universe where Fares folded. Imagine playing the Hazelight follow-up\u2014let\u2019s call it \u201cNFT Takes Three Thousand Dollars\u201d\u2014and every time you high-five your partner, the game prompts you to mint the moment on the blockchain. Your character\u2019s pants? A limited-edition skin that costs 0.5 ETH and can be stolen if you sneeze near a smart contract. The final boss can only be beaten if you own the \u201cFabled Hammer of Proof-of-Stake.\u201d That\u2019s not a game; it\u2019s a second job. And Fares knew it. That\u2019s why he said he\u2019d rather get shot in the knee. A knee injury heals. A reputation for predatory monetization? That limps forever.

What\u2019s wild is that even in 2026, the NFT stench hasn\u2019t completely dissipated. Some mobile games still try to pass off pixelated trash as \u201cdigital collectibles,\u201d and there\u2019s always a new metaverse pitch deck floating around. But the big studios that got burned learned their lesson: gamers are not venture capitalists in disguise. We don\u2019t want to \u201cinvest\u201d in your in-game economy; we want to escape into worlds where the only currency is the number of times we\u2019ve died to a platforming section and blamed the controller.

Hazelight\u2019s next project is still shrouded in mystery, and honestly, I\u2019m vibrating with anticipation. Fares hasn\u2019t missed yet. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was a punch to the feels. A Way Out made couch co-op cool again. It Takes Two was a genre-bending masterpiece. Whatever comes next, you can bet your last gamer-tears it won\u2019t ask for a crypto wallet. Because Fares, in his beautifully belligerent way, has drawn a line in the sand. On one side: genuine, handcrafted gaming experiences. On the other: digital snake oil that breathes server dust.

So here\u2019s to you, Josef. May your knees remain intact, and may your games never, ever need a gas fee. In a timeline where AAA often means \u201cAccess All Assets,\u201d you\u2019re a rare boss fight worth winning. \ud83d\uded1\u2728

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