Rockstar & Microsoft say nay to NFT’s

For many years, many video game fanatics have often dreamed of a gaming experience in which your assets and in-game activity amounted to something of value in real-life other than just bragging rights, and because of blockchain-based games such as Axie Infinity, Ember Sword and Splinterlands; In-game activity can amount to monetization via cryptocurrencies and NFT’s. Despite hundreds of millions in transactional value in gaming blockchains, major game publishers are still not sold on play and earn crypto mechanics just yet.

Just about every major video game company has hired its own in-house blockchain development staff, however, none have yet established a business approach that is appropriate for blockchain and its role in the future of gaming.

Some entities are against NFT and crypto tech entirely. Steam banned all games that enabled crypto and non-fungible trades in 2021, with founder Gabe Powell citing the “bad actors & volatility” within the space to blame. And recently a larger blow has been struck with Two Take, parent company to Rockstar Games (GTA) opposing the technologies as well.

Rockstar recently updated the user guidelines for its third-party or role-playing servers, effectively banning the buying and selling of crypto and NFTs.

The new measures affected unofficial Grand Theft Auto Online (GTAO) servers that may not have been supervised by Rockstar or approved to trade digital assets — for example, the Trenches server set up by a rapper named Lil Durk on GTA 5, which sold loot boxes, in-game properties and vehicles.

Following a cease-and-desist order from Rockstar, Trenches tweeted it “had no choice but to comply with their demands” and shut down.

Mojang (Minecraft) banned NFT support inside Minecraft client and server activations as well.

These companies aren’t anti-blockchain tech however, they simply haven’t formulated a strategy appropriate for the opportunity at hand. Being publicly traded with many shareholders to satisfy requires extensive planning and coordination. Most will seek to retain familiar rates of profit and similar gamification experiences while creating unique experiences to set their brand apart from others in the rise of web3 gaming and immersive experiences, and who are we to blame?

Venture capital is still pouring in for blockchain-based games and metaverse initiatives. Over October and November, over 534 million in funding was secured, as reported by DappRadar. Soon enough, we’ll be seeing blockchain technology implemented in the majority of games. There may not be NFTs in the next GTA, but there certainly will be in the one after.