Minecraft Says no to NFTs

15th Nov, 2022

Minecraft players will not be allowed to buy in-game content like worlds, skins and persona items.

Minecraft, the most-sold video game ever, won't support NFTs. They "create a scenario where the haves and have-nots".

Mojang Studios, a Minecraft developer, stated yesterday (20 July) that NFTs were a violation of the game's core values in a strong-worded post.

The company stated that NFTs and other Blockchain technologies create digital ownership based upon scarcity and exclusion. This is not in line with Minecraft values of creative inclusion, playing together and sharing our resources.

"Speculative pricing and an investment mentality around NFTs distracts from the game and encourages profiteering. We believe this is incompatible with long-term joy, and success for our players."

Minecraft stated that the statement was made in response to community members who sought clarifications about the studio's position on NFTs, and blockchain.

This means that Minecraft, unlike other virtual worlds, will not allow blockchain integrations in its client or server applications. NFTs are not allowed to be used in-game for content like worlds, skins and persona items, as well as other mods.

Mojang, a Microsoft-owned company, said it was also concerned about third-party NFTs. These NFTs could be unreliable and end up costing players who purchase them. The Mojang cited examples where third-party NFT managers could "disappear suddenly" or NFTs could "be sold at artificially or fraudulently high prices".

"We recognize that the creations within our games have intrinsic value and we work to create a market where these values can be recognized."

Online gaming has seen an increase in interest in blockchain technologies like NFTs. This topic was also discussed at Future Human earlier in the year.

GameStop and other companies have indicated their confidence in NFTs, which will be a key feature of future gaming. GameStop has launched its own NFT marketplace.

Other companies, however, aren't yet going all-in. EA's CEO stated that blockchain and NFTs might be the future of gaming. However, he recently said: "Right now it's not something we're driving against."