What do Skyrim, David Bowie and the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II have in common? A tweet, it turns out, is all it takes to combine these three seemingly separate things.
The official David Bowie Twitter account tweeted early on Saturday in a font that was immediately recognizable to anyone who’s spent any time playing the incredibly popular game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. In fact, it looked like a new quest in the game. Unfortunately, that was not the case, regardless of how absolutely bonkers that would’ve been.
The announcement was instead an update on the upcoming, “Bowie on the Blockchain” non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that the late singer’s estate was planning on releasing. “Out of respect for the people of the U.K. and Queen Elizabeth II, we will be postponing the ‘Bowie on The Blockchain’ sale. We will update soon.”
While the flashy tweet definitely gave off strong “How do you do, fellow kids” vibes, it’s been an uphill battle for the NFTs the whole way, so maybe this is for the best. The backlash was pretty instant, with the most salient argument being that these NFTs would not be something the famous singer would want to be a part of.
Even the fact that all proceeds were going to the charity, Care, couldn’t quell the fire.
“How about we just don’t with the NFT guff and just raise money for charity without using a pyramid scheme,” said one user.
Another said it more simply: “David Bowie would not want this.”
Others pointed out that Bowie previously released “Bowie Bonds,” which were asset-backed securities backed by the singer’s album sales and concert proceeds.
It’s only a matter of time before we see Bowie in Fortnite if things continue on this path.
