Although opinions are widely divided, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) remain one of the hottest topics a year after the NFT boom.
It has rapidly evolved from a collection of tokens to a utilitarian asset like cryptocurrency, and video games like Axie Infinity have benefited significantly from its innovations.
However, the play-to-earn system has received some criticism over the past year and Epic Games has taken a stand.
Mojang Studios
Despite their popularity, NFTs have been criticized for a variety of reasons.
Mojang Studios, the developers of Minecraft, have announced that they will exclude the integration of NFT and blockchain technology on their platform.
“Like any digital file, NFTs can be copied, moved, or even deleted,” Mojang wrote in a statement.
“Additionally, NFTs and blockchains have also been associated with price speculation. These uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies create digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which does not align with Minecraft’s values of creative inclusion and playing together.”
The company also criticized NFT pricing.
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After the ban
The ban left one project, NFT Worlds, with a mountain to climb since it was built on one of Minecraft’s open-source servers.
Following Mojang Studios’ announcement, the NFT Worlds team said they are considering ways to move forward.
The team said they are communicating with Minecraft to see if they can meet up between the two.
Alternatively, a switch to a “Minecraft-like game engine” or the GameFi platform are considered possible options.
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Epic games
Epic Games is a well-known game developer and distributor that often offers free game gems.
People were wondering if Epic would follow suit when it was revealed that Minecraft wouldn’t support NFTs.
However, founder Tim Sweeney dismissed all concerns, saying it was wrong to “interfere” with the way developers make their games.
The revelation came in a series of tweets after a user retweeted an article.
Epic Games’ stance
Twitter user Joe (@DicklessRichard) tweeted to Epic Games, asking the store to follow Mojang Studio’s lead.
“It’d be really nice to see the same opinion from the Epic Games store,” they wrote. “Please get rid of every last one of those games on the store.”
Tim Sweeney responded by saying:
“Developers should be free to decide how to build their games. And you are free to decide whether to play them.”
“I believe stores and operating system makers shouldn’t interfere by forcing their view onto others,” he added.
“We certainly won’t.”
Tim Sweeney’s statement
In addition to the Twitter threat, Sweeney was asked how the standard would be applied against a company trying to post hateful content.
However, Sweeney insisted that the company has editorial policies, noting that NFTs do not currently conflict with them.
“A store could choose to make no such judgements and host anything that’s legal, or choose to draw the line at mainstream acceptable norms as we do, or accept only games that conform to the owner’s personal beliefs,” Sweeney said, explaining why NFTs aren’t outright banned.
References:
Epic won’t ban NFT games in response to Minecraft’s stance, Tim Sweeney says
