Not one to miss a cynical corporate cash-in, Nike apparently created its own "web3" platform last year, debuted its .Swoosh "digital community experience" in November, and sold boxes of randomized virtual shoes in bulk during its beta period . The platform "allows you to showcase, trade, and wear your Nike Virtual Creations in video games and immersive experiences.

And now Electronic Arts, one of the cynical companies in the gaming world, is joining the "immersive experience" to do something obscure involving their games and Nike's blockchain-powered ".Swoosh" platform.

"In future EA Sports titles, EA Sports and Nike plan to make select .Swoosh virtual creations available to allow members and players unique new opportunities for self-expression and creativity through sport and style," It said.

My guess is that virtual sneaker designs purchased from the Nike marketplace can be worn by small custom players? Here, it is less clear. The press release quote talks a lot about "incredible new experiences," a "commitment to innovation," and "creativity" for "fans," and the word partnership is used a lot. Are these NFT and Web3 buzzwords fodder for investors?

For our part, we will just continue to watch everything related to NFT crash and burn. This is because NFT advocates have failed to explain exactly how and why NFT is valuable, and NFT has been used to commit many crimes.

That's not to say that companies won't continue to show new ways to push even more unwelcome commerce in the game and sell more stuff, as this EA announcement shows; the people at PUBG are trying it out right away, and they're not the only ones who are trying it out.

Speaking of EA, soccer enthusiast Rich Stanton rubbed soccer in the face last month when he revealed the look of EA Sports FC, the first soccer game since EA parted ways with the FIFA brand. He was suspicious that finally a futsal game, Ultimate Football League, would be released that could compete with FIFA, or at least be a functional replacement.