PUBG Creator Announces ‘Artemis,’ A Gameplay-Centric Metaverse Without NFTs

Brendan Greene, the mastermind behind the iconic battle royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), has unveiled his latest project. Titled Artemis, the game promises a gameplay-focused metaverse that veers away from non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Greene, who parted ways with PUBG’s development team in 2019, shared his vision for Artemis on 2 January 2025 in an interview with IGN. “Not even thinking about [NFTs],” when asked about their potential inclusion in the project.

The gaming and crypto industries have often hailed NFTs as transformative tools for securing intellectual property and enabling cross-platform asset ownership.

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Greene To Concentrate On Creating Compelling Gameplay Experiences

Greene said he prefers to concentrate on creating compelling gameplay experiences. “Our concern is about getting the engine to a state where we can make things in it,” Greene explained, emphasizing that his team at PlayerUnknown Productions is prioritizing innovation and fun over speculative technology.

For now, NFTs are not part of the equation, though Greene hasn’t entirely ruled out the future integration of blockchain technology.

“Blockchains are an interesting financial instrument,” he acknowledged, noting that advancements in blockchain or similar technologies might hold potential. “Ultimately, it’s a digital ledger, and if we can use a digital ledger, we’ll find the best one and use it. But that’s really it.”

Greene expressed dissatisfaction with how the metaverse has been conceptualized and marketed by other developers. He dismissed many existing projects as “intellectual property bubbles” that overpromise and underdeliver.

“I want to build a metaverse because I don’t think anyone else is,” he said, adding that most initiatives fall short of creating the interconnected, immersive digital world the term implies.

The creator of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds: Not considering including NFT in the metaverse “Artemis”, but may integrate blockchain technology

Brendan Greene, the creator of the online battle royale shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), left the game's development tea…

— Bpay News (@bpaynews) January 6, 2025

For Greene, the metaverse is akin to a “3D internet,” where users can create and explore their own worlds, all operating on a shared protocol. “A world is a page, and that’s what I’m trying to do with Artemis,” he explained.

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Artemis Includes 3 Projects

The development of Artemis involves three distinct projects. The first, Prologue, is a realistic survival game built on a world-generation engine informed by NASA’s Earth data. Currently available for testing, Prologue is slated for release in 2025.

The second, as-yet-unnamed project, will expand into large-scale multiplayer experiences, with vast worlds populated by millions of characters. Both games serve as stepping stones toward Artemis, which Greene envisions as a seamless integration of user creativity and multiplayer gameplay.

Greene’s announcement comes at a time when enthusiasm for the metaverse has waned. Between 2020 and 2022, the concept was a hot trend in the crypto and tech industries, but many projects failed to deliver on their lofty promises.

Tech giants like Meta, which rebranded under Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership, have spent billions pursuing metaverse ambitions with mixed results.

Nevertheless, NFTs closed 2024 on a strong note, with annual sales surpassing $8.83 billion. This marks a 1.1% increase over the $8.7 billion recorded in 2023, suggesting a modest but notable recovery for the digital collectibles market.

Despite the positive growth compared to 2023, 2024’s sales volumes were a far cry from the market’s peak years. In 2021, NFTs generated $15.7 billion in sales, while 2022 saw a staggering $23.7 billion. The 2024 figures represent a decline of 43.9% and 62.8%, respectively, compared to those years.

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