On August 7th, the creator of the popular online game Bored Ape Yacht Club announced that it would be blocking OpenSea in an effort to fight over payments. The move came after OpenSea, an Ethereum-based decentralized marketplace, announced a new payment plan that angered some of its users.
The announcement from Bored Ape Yacht Club creator, John Nguyen, came just a few days after OpenSea had announced its new payment model which would require players to pay a 5% commission to the platform for every transaction. This caused some of the players to accuse OpenSea of “taking a piece of the pie” from them.
John Nguyen said that his studio was sending a clear message to OpenSea that the “underhanded and unfair practices” would not be tolerated. He argued that players on his platform should not be taken advantage of and that the 5% commission was too high.
The announcement from Bored Ape Yacht Club has received both mixed reactions from the gaming community. While many players have applauded the move as a way to stand up to OpenSea’s commission, there have been some who have argued that the move is too extreme and could stunt the growth of the game.
Regardless, John Nguyen is standing firm in his decision to block OpenSea in order to protect the players of Bored Ape Yacht Club. He said that he hopes to reach an agreement with OpenSea that would be beneficial to all parties involved in the future. Until then, players of the game will have to find alternate payment methods when purchasing virtual goods.