Recently published patent shows Sony’s vision for an NFT platform

Electronics giant Sony has revealed a patent that suggests the company could expand into NFTs and digital assets. Originally filed last year, the patent is separate from Sony’s PlayStation Stars program, which allows users to collect unique digital collectibles and earn rewards.

Sony’s plans to use blockchain technology to track in-game NFTs

A patent owned by Sony has recently been published for a system that can be used to track the creation, use and transfer of digital assets created in a game. Titled “In-Game Tracking of Unique Digital Assets with Tokens on a Distributed Ledger,” it was originally filed on May 7, 2021. The patent reads:

“Individuals often find it meaningful to own or use unique physical objects related to respected celebrities or activities. For example, fans of the great baseball player Babe Ruth, or of baseball in general, often seek to purchase and own baseballs signed by Ruth, baseballs hit of Ruth in an important baseball game, trading cards depicting Ruth and the like.”

The patent envisions a system for “creating, modifying, tracking, authenticating and/or transferring unique digital assets” related to video games. The digital assets can be in-game objects or video game digital media content with media representations of game moments, such as clips, images or audio clips.

In short, the electronics company has focused on the eSports scene and digital items that gamers might want. The patent compares these digital objects to baseballs either signed or hit by baseball stars like Babe Ruth, but relates to in-game objects that can be transferred across platforms or blockchains.

It is worth noting that the patent was submitted in May 2021, in the midst of NFT mania. At the time, the market for NFTs was at an all-time high, with some non-fungible tokens generating millions of dollars in sales. However, public response to NFTs has changed quite a bit since then.

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NFT market falls to record lows amid FTX drama

The NFT market has been in a slump for the past couple of months amid a prolonged crypto winter. NFT sales volumes have fallen to their lowest levels in more than a year, and the floor price of blue-chip collections has also taken a hit.

According to NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam, NFT sales volume in USD terms over the Ethereum blockchain has fallen to around $10 million in recent days, down over 99% compared to the all-time high of $628 million recorded on May 1, 2022.

Meanwhile, Solana NFTs have been hit the hardest, with sales volume falling below $1 million in recent days. The fall is mainly attributed to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which was one of the biggest supporters of the Solana blockchain.

However, it is worth noting that continued use of NFTs and investment in the industry may indicate that this market downturn is temporary. As reported, GameStop’s NFT marketplace crossed the $5 million milestone in trading volume last week, despite the overall sour NFT market conditions.

Do you think Sony would continue with the NFT plans despite the recent slowdown in the NFT market? Let us know in the comments below.

About the author

Ruholamin Haqshanas is an accomplished crypto and financial journalist with over two years of experience writing in the field. He has a solid grasp of various segments of the FinTech space, including the decentralized iteration of financial systems (DeFi), and the emerging market for non-fungible tokens (NFT). He is an active user of digital assets for money transfers.