Notes

Minecraft Developers Won't Allow NFTs on The Gaming Platform

Minecraft does not permit non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to be used on the game platform The company describes NFTs as a threat to Minecraft's "values of inclusiveness and playing with others".



NFTs give ownership to an item that is unique to digital. This is typically an image or video. The ownership is stored on a decentralised digital registry known as a Blockchain.



Digital files can usually be copied or deleted for free, however an NFT can identify the owner of the original file for the purposes of purchasing, selling or trading ownership of the file - typically for cryptocurrency.



NFTs were the most talked about subject in January, as sales reached a record US$12bn (AU$17.4bn globally). However, in line with the decline in cryptocurrency, sales recently dropped to the lowest level of one billion dollars (AU$1.45bn) in June.



Minecraft, which allows users to build entire virtual worlds, can be highly customisable. Minecraft has been around for more than 10 years and has a large community of players who design skins, mods, and maps.



Minecraft represented an attractive potential market for NFTs, with a user base - estimated at more than 141 million as of August 2021 - already sharing exclusive digital items developed for the game.



But the Microsoft-owned development studio behind Minecraft, Mojang, has ended speculation NFTs might be permitted in the game. In a blog post posted on Wednesday, the developers stated that blockchain technology was not allowed as it is incompatible to the values of Minecraft.



"Each of these uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies creates digital ownership that is based on exclusion and scarcity, which does not align with Minecraft values of creative inclusion and playing together," the company said.



"NFTs don't include all members of our community and create a situation of the haves and not-so-haves. The speculation about prices and investment mindset associated with NFTs takes the focus away from the game itself and encourages profiteering, which we think is not in line with the long-term enjoyment and the success of our players."



Mojang declared that Minecraft creations had intrinsic value, and that there were instances when NFTs were sold for sale in fraud or at artificially high prices.



The studio stated that it was concerned that third-party NFTs could not be reliable and could cost players. It also expressed concerns that the Minecraft implementation built entirely on blockchain technology could vanish without notice, leading to players losing their investments.



This is known in the crypto community as a "rug pull" which is when the creators behind a cryptocurrency project shut down the project and take off with the money. This appears to have already occurred with a third-party Minecraft project called Blockverse. PC Gamer reported that the project vanished in January after more than US$1 million (AU$1.45m), had been put into it.



Mojang left the door open to using "more secure" blockchain technology in Minecraft in the near future, but said it did not have plans to permit it at the moment.



We've shared the following announcement on Discord regarding the current @Minecraft & @nftworldsNFT situation. pic.twitter.com/ARbKABRK4A



We've just posted the following announcement on Discord channel regarding the current @Minecraft and @nftworldsNFT issue. pic.twitter.com/ARbKABRK4A



One group that was developing NFTs for Minecraft claimed that the move was an "step backwards in the field of innovation" and if they were banned they would have to move to another gaming platform.
Minecraft servers


Roblox Another game of great popularity that lets you purchase items in the game, isn't yet announcing a position on NFTs. However, the chief business officer, Craig Donato, told VentureBeat in April that he did not think there was a reason why the game should not allow NFTs and it was more a matter of when.



Other gaming companies such as Square Enix and Ubisoft are also experimenting with NFTs. This week Square Enix announced that for the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII next year people would be able to buy physical trading cards with digital versions as NFTs.


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