F1 Delta Time, an official NFT and crypto-powered racing game that launched back in 2019 closed its doors last month. This leaves everyone who had spent money and invested in the project probably wishing they had done something else with their time.
The game, which was one of the first licensed NFT titles out there, years before other leagues and sports got into the scam, announced its closure on March 15.
For those who don’t know about F1 Delta Time, the game was based upon the Ethereum currency, which players could convert into Animoca’s REVV utility token to let them buy and trade NFT-based in-game items, such as cars, drivers and so on. While F1 Delta Time may be pretty obscure to most people, it was significant in how it “legitimised” the idea of NFT and play-to-earn gaming.
Most notably, it saw the biggest-value sale of an NFT in 2019, with a jewel-encrusted car called the 1-1-1 going for an Ethereum value of over $100,000.
The reason behind the shutdown is that this officially licensed Formula 1 game has lost its official license. This would be a significant blow to any game, especially for one where the license is wrapped up in the sale of blockchain-based digital items. Animoca announced the shutdown via its REVV Motorsport Twitter account, stating. “It is with deep regret that we announce that F1 Delta Time will cease operations on 16 March 2022.”
In response to complaints from users who invested in NFTs while the game was in operation, the company announced the existence of a plan to compensate them through other blockchain-based car games developed by REVV Motorsport (Animoca’s car games division): “We are taking steps to offer gamers and digital asset owners ways to participate in the broader REVV Motorsport ecosystem, which includes MotoGP, Ignition, Formula E: High Voltage, REVV Racing and Torque Drift.”
The problem with a license-based NFT game is that the digital assets become worthless if the license is not renewed.
Users who purchased NFTs from this game witnessed how their investment evaporated overnight.
At the time, F1 Delta Time was a success; in fact, the most expensive NFT sold in 2019 was a car for this game that reached a value of $110,000. Called 1-1-1, the digital vehicle was covered in diamonds.
As for what’s happened to all those precious NFTs, well, for all intents and purposes, they no longer exist. It’s worth noting the developers are attempting to compensate owners of those now-worthless NFTs with replacement tokens for one of the company’s other blockchain-based racing games. Affected players can be compensated in various ways, including Replacement Cars, a “Race Pass”, or “Proxy Assets”, which “will be used in the future to obtain NFTs to products across the REVV Motorsport ecosystem.”
