Notes

Popular Block Game 'Minecraft' Says no to NFTs, and The Blockchain

Mojang Studios, the Microsoft-owned developer behind the wildly successful procedurally generated sandbox game "Minecraft," announced Wednesday that NFTs and other blockchain products will not be backed by the studio or allowed to be used in the game.



An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a kind of blockchain technology. It is a unique receipt tied to the blockchain for all digital assets - such as video, illustrations, character models in games or any other data you have access to on your computer that verifies that the holder is the true owner. For example the case where an "Minecraft" player had the NFT for the pickax that resembles a lightsaber, that player could claim to be the legitimate owner of the original lightsaber.



Mojang stated that NFTs violate the game's values, collaboration and cooperation. The virtual assets are rare items for collectors.



The statement states that NFTs do not encompass all members of our community and create a conflict between havings and have-nots.
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Mojang also stated that the NFT-based mentality "Minecraft will introduce to players will adversely affect their enjoyment for the long run. Mojang expressed its the concern that players would spend more time appraising NFTs values and attempting to earn money through "Minecraft" instead of enjoying the game in itself.



Mojang also had concerns about NFTs in fraud cases, quality control and NFTs being sold at inflated prices. However, the restriction on NFTs was a conditional; Mojang said it would pay "close attention" to how the technology develops. "To ensure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not allowed to be integrated inside our Minecraft client and server applications nor may they be utilized to create NFTs that are associated with any in-game content, including worlds, skins, persona items, or other mods," reads the statement. "We do not plan to implement blockchain technology in Minecraft in the near future."



This is an incredibly bold move, especially for a title that is as wildly popular and moddable as "Minecraft." The decade-old sandbox has sold a whopping 238 million copies according to Statista, making "Minecraft" the best-selling video game ever. The reason for this is obvious: "Minecraft" is simple, easy to run and extremely flexible. Users have used "Minecraft" to make a Harry Potter game set in a 1:1 recreation of Hogwarts and even created a fictional cult community dedicated to the streamer MoonMoon and even built an actual CPU.



Long-term players earn money building for 'Minecraft.



The gaming platform "Roblox" is often mentioned in the same breath as "Minecraft" due to both titles' customizability and popularity with younger gamers. Roblox Corporation has yet to support NFTs however in an interview with VentureBeat the Chief Business Officer Craig Donato voiced enthusiastic support to incorporate them into the game in the near future.



According to a study conducted recently, more than $2.2 billion was raised by private blockchain and NFT gaming companies in the first quarter of 2022, indicating an increased interest among video game industry investors. On Wednesday, Lee Trink, CEO of the gaming and lifestyle brand of esports FaZe Clan, spoke glowingly about positioning the newly public company to pursue opportunities relating to blockchain technology.



However, NFTs have also been received with suspicion by a lot of developers. Bloomberg reports that Ubisoft's involvement in NFTs was criticized by employees. In an interview with Wired, Frost Giant Studios cofounder Tim Morten said that play-to-earn games on blockchain were "dangerously similar to an elaborate pyramid scheme". Potential investors might be put off by a company like Mojang using the term NFTs in negative terms.


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