NFT World Shaken by Surprising News
The crypto industry did not need this, especially at a time when it is trying to catch its breath from the devastation caused by the liquidity crisis affecting prominent lenders such as Voyager Digital, BlockFi, Celsius Network and Babel Finance.
The prices of cryptocurrencies that had fallen are stabilizing. Unfortunately, it’s another sector of the industry, not least since it’s non-fungible tokens or NFTs, that has just been hit hard.
Mojang Studios, the developer of Minecraft, one of the most popular video games, has just banned NFTs and Blockchain technology, because they are, the company claims, against its values of inclusion.
“To ensure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not allowed to be integrated into our Minecraft client and server applications, nor can they be used to create NFTs associated with in-game content, including worlds, skins , persona items or other mods,” Mojang, bought for $2.5 billion in 2014 by software giant Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Microsoft Corporation reportsaid in a statement.
Who will be affected?
This decision is a blow to the monetization of NFTs. Indeed, video games are considered a natural destination to draw a business model for this buzzword at the beginning of the year.
Launched in 2009, Minecraft is a global phenomenon. The open sandbox gives players free rein to create worlds and experiences and create all kinds of buildings. It is especially popular with children.
As Mojang says, an NFT is a unique, non-editable, digital token that is part of a blockchain and often purchased with cryptocurrencies such as Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency. It can be associated with any kind of digital asset, such as a JPEG or a GIF. The purchase provides the token that indicates ownership of the original digital file.
The Swedish developer says it made this decision after receiving feedback from some community members. In addition to banning NFTs, Minecraft will ban the use of in-game content, such as worlds and skins, for the purpose of creating “rare digital goods.”
Currently, Mojang allows game server operators to charge for personalized experiences, which has led to the proliferation of NFTs in Minecraft. The video game allows internet users to create servers so that a defined community of players can play online together in personal virtual worlds. Mojang’s new policy targets one aspect of this feature.
The NFT Worlds project, a platform that uses Minecraft to create decentralized virtual worlds where players can buy and resell virtual items in the form of NFTs, is affected by the decision. The prices of their NFTs vary according to their scarcity level.
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The initial ramifications of Mojang’s decision were quickly felt as the floor price of NFT World’s NFT collection dropped by at least 60% following the announcement.
“We are working to connect with the appropriate decision makers within the Minecraft Policy Enforcement team as well as the general Minecraft studio to understand the details of this policy change,” NFT Worlds responded in a message posted on Twitter. “If, after the above conversations, we come to the conclusion that we can continue to operate, the show will go on as it has been.”
“But if we’re really banned because of the risk ‘of a lawsuit’ by Minecraft/Microsoft from innovating on top of the Minecraft ecosystem we’re moving forward, we’re pivoting.”
Speculation
NFT Worlds has not removed the content on OpenSea, the Amazon of NFTs, at the time of writing.
Mojang pointed out that banning NFTs on Minecraft was to ensure players have a “safe and inclusive experience”. The use of NFTs generates artificial models of rarity and unfairly excludes players, the studios argued.
“Some companies have recently released NFT implementations that are associated with Minecraft world files and skin packs,” Mojang said. “Other examples of how NFTs and blockchain can be used with Minecraft include creating Minecraft collectible NFTs, allowing players to earn NFTs through activities performed on a server, or earning Minecraft NFT rewards for activities outside of the game.”
“Each of these uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies creates digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which is inconsistent with the Minecraft values of creative inclusion and playing together,” criticized Minecraft’s developer. “NFTs do not include our entire society and create a scenario of haves and have-nots.”
The company is also concerned that NFT projects created by third parties are fraudulent and/or influence players to purchase virtual items at artificially or fraudulently inflated prices.
“The speculative pricing and investment mentality around NFTs takes the focus away from playing the game and encourages profit, which we believe is inconsistent with the long-term enjoyment and success of our players,” Mojang said.
Despite the ban, however, the company leaves the door open for a possible change of position in the future.
“We will also keep a close eye on how blockchain technology develops over time.”
