In Destiny, the special shader “Blacksmith” fetches triple-digit sums. Some merchants make quite a profit from it.
Recently, we reported that clever users are reselling the “free shaders” on eBay to players who have no idea that they can also obtain them for free. However, we also mentioned that the shader “Blacksmith” is indeed traded on eBay, and is considered valuable in the eyes of collectors.
The shader is a rarity; the code was exclusively included in the preorder boxes of a “Call of Duty” title and was also used as a purchase incentive for special bundles.
A player reports on reddit that he recently checked eBay for “Blacksmith” and found it already priced over 40 US dollars. Way too high for him. The item then sold for 160 US dollars (and for those not closely following the press: currently, the Euro-Dollar exchange rate is practically 1:1). There is currently another auction listed that is already at just under 60 dollars.
Note: This is not about a game, but merely a code for this rare shader.
The special shader “Blacksmith” was included with preorder versions of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, a game distributed by Activision, just like Destiny. This was expected to create a cross-promotion effect. However, the shader was not included in every edition; it appears that special deals were arranged with retail distributors. It also appears to have been included in certain bundles – such as the White PlayStation+Destiny package.
There is no way to obtain this shader in the game, and it is probably the only “special item” of its kind in Destiny so far – and in a game played by so many, some desire to stand out from the crowd. This exclusivity seems to come at a cost for some.
Hopefully they won’t get any silly ideas about Destiny…
The reddit user and we ponder how Destiny would look with a cash shop or if there were more such “offers”. If players are willing to pay 160 dollars for such a collector’s item: How easy would it then be for Activision to extract even more money from the game through such purchasable items? They can surely find inspiration for this everywhere, even in their own house. Blizzard has long been selling special pets and mounts for its World of Warcraft exclusively for real money.
And what else can we learn from this story? Apparently, trading with such goods is lucrative. It seems that some who saw this coming stocked up on codes for Call of Duty and are now selling the shaders separately. The Blacksmith shader on eBay is, for example, sold by a dealer who seems to specialize in such items. However, from Germany, it is even more expensive, as customs and shipping fees are charged for sending the code – and that’s not cheap…
For more on the MMO shooter, check out our Destiny theme page
