NFT games
Steam is stating that they want nothing to do with games that have any type of NFT in them since certificates of ownership or virtual currencies can make things more difficult. However, other platforms like Epic Games state that they are open to adding cryptocurrency in games.
Epic stated that their Games Store will start accepting games that have certificates of ownership and virtual currencies. It comes as a timely announcement, right after Steam specifically stated that they are not accepting any type of virtual currencies or NFT games on their platform.
Epic Games is for cryptocurrency
Steam has started curating their platform and they believe that NFT games have no place in their portfolio.
According to Tim Sweeney from Epic Games, they are all in on this type of games, because they think it’s a great alternative to other titles, and it does enhance the game experience. Because of that, their Epic Games Store will soon start hosting games that use blockchain technology. Of course, there are some things they must do.
They have to follow the laws, they need to be rated accordingly and they also have to disclose their terms. Epic is not using Crypto in their own games, however, they are open to any type of innovation in the gaming world, and that does bring in a lot of potential. The tweet from Sweeney was posted on October 16, just hours after Valve banned NFT and cryptocurrency-focused games on their platform.
On the same day, Valve stated that they are not welcoming games with property certificates and cryptocurrency on their own store. According to them, apps that are built on blockchain technology that allows the exchange of NFTs and cryptocurrency will not be welcome on the website. It’s hard to know what caused this ban, but one of the reasons might be the fact that Steam usually has control and gets a cut from every transaction or microtransaction on their store. This type of game would obviously be a lot harder to monetize from Steam’s side, if at all.
Lots of NFT games were removed from Steam very quickly
As soon as the press release came out, Steam also started banning this type of game from the catalog.
Age of Rust is one of the examples, a puzzle and adventure game that had NFT and cryptocurrency elements in it. The developer Chris Loverme which is one of the team members behind this game stated that he respects Valve’s decision. At the same time, he does think that blockchain and NFT games are the future.
Of course, this brought a lot of other opinions from people in the industry as well. Many developers like the one that created Axie Infinity state that people should have economic freedom within their game worlds and not be restricted. Many believe that Steam’s decision might not be the best, but they respect it either way. It’s important to note that at one point Steam was supporting cryptocurrency payments, but they removed that due to their own reasons. Banning NFT and cryptocurrency-focused games might be an extension of that.
Read Next
How To Lock Camera In Dota