Steam bans games that contain NFT and cryptocurrency functionality

[ad_1]

Image: Valve / Satoshis Games / Kotaku

Damn. Good Guy Steam is (more or less) back. The developer of an upcoming NFT-based PC game revealed in a tweet that Steam no longer allows games that are based on blockchain technology or that release or allow the exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs. In fact, Valve’s onboarding rules page now says exactly that.

Non-fungible tokens are digital assets that represent ownership of specific image files and this ownership is recorded in an electronic ledger called a blockchain. The NFT scene is notorious for scammers saving themselves after the money is poured in, and there are multiple cryptocurrency projects where developers just expect investors to trust them on a spit handshake. Not to mention that NFTs (and cryptocurrencies in general) are environmental disasters. But as long as high-profile NFTs can potentially impose selling prices of millions of dollars, crypto bros will continue to sell snake oil.

Steam’s formal ban on cryptocurrency and NFT games was not entirely unexpected. On September 30, NFT-based game developer Satoshis Games announced that Valve would not allow the release of its NFT Light Nite game on Steam. No explanation has been given until today, when the developers behind Age of Rust (another NFT game) explained that Steam doesn’t allow games that have real value on the platform to exist.

Light Nite is a game where players can earn NFTs by playing, which they can then sell in a bitcoin market. Similarly, Age of Rust has a mechanic where players can use NFTs to unlock certain types of in-game rewards. As both of these games allow players to redeem digital assets for real value, they would find themselves in conflict with Steam’s new stance against such features.

It’s pretty funny that Steam thinks NFTs contain real value, but I’m not complaining. The less video games align with NFTs, the better. And it seems that he is not the only one who agrees. Steam’s main competitor is the Epic Games Store. CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that the company was [not] touching on NFTs as the whole field is currently tangled with an intractable mix of scams, interesting decentralized tech bases and scams.

G / O Media may receive a commission

It’s actually available.Get a next-gen console to play digital games exclusively at 1440p.

Even if the technology itself wasn’t based on selling people in Florida beachfront properties, the NFT market is notoriously volatile. Last June, the NFT market plummeted 90% from its peak.

Now that two of the largest game distributors in the world have turned down this particular blend of games and cryptocurrency, the future of cryptocurrency and NFT-centric gaming looks a little less bright.

[ad_2]