Yesterday Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson announced Creator League, an esports tournament featuring eight top influencers, but weirdly not him. But now following the announcement it has been revealed that the Creator League community passes are NFTs, and some of the creators involved didn’t know this.
The Community Passes are $20 NFTs that you can buy to join a single creator’s community. There are some bonuses you get from these, such as being able to vote on team decisions and getting access to some closed tournaments, but there seemingly isn’t much value there unless you can win one of the tournaments. However, in the information provided to the press, the MrBeast announcement video and on the Creator League website the term NFT is nowhere to be found.
It has also been revealed that some of the creators involved appear to not have been made aware of the NFTs. IRL streamer CdawgVA who was one of the eight creators involved Tweeted earlier today that he was not made aware that it featured blockchain technology and will be pulling out of the league.
CdawgVA is currently the only creator involved to have pulled out of the league, but there are others involved who have previously been very critical of blockchain technology. Asmongold, who is a founder of the OTK group which is a part of the Creator League, has on multiple occasions voiced his dislike of blockchain technology, and his involvement with an NFT project is very surprising given his previous statements.
The Creator League website, which actually directs to a site called mynt, makes no mention of NFTs or blockchain technology. The only place I have been able to find a mention of it is in the terms and refund policy of Coinflow, the company that handles payments for the Community Pass, and these are only available as you are about to make a purchase.
Press, including myself, were given information about the Creator League prior to its announcement. In none of these materials is the term NFT or blockchain mentioned.
NFTs have proven controversial in esports and gaming after many projects that have failed and left people out of pocket. Any project that features blockchain technology will typically be met with a lot of hatred from the community and not well received, which is often not deserved. However, hiding the fact that this is an NFT project and only letting people know in the terms and conditions documents seems disingenuous and does not accurately inform people what they are purchasing.
I have reached out to all eight creators involved in the league and eFuse but none had replied at the time of publishing the article. I will update the article if I get a response.
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