Mojang, the developer behind Minecraft, is not a fan of non-fungible tokens.
The Microsoft-owned company said Wednesday that it won’t support NFTs in Minecraft because they’re “not inclusive of all our community and create a scenario of the haves and the have-nots.”
NFTs are tokens on the blockchain that aim to prove ownership of a unique digital item, whether it’s a piece of graphic art or a video game avatar. NFTs attracted huge inflows last year, with prices of some reaching millions of dollars.
The tokens have been the target of intense scrutiny from regulators and the broader public due to the speculative nature of people buying them in the hope of making a quick profit, as well as concerns surrounding the environmental impact of the underlying blockchain technology.
In a blog post Wednesday, Mojang said NFTs don’t align with Minecraft’s values and therefore aren’t allowed in the game.
“The speculative pricing and investment mentality around NFTs takes the focus away from playing the game and encourages profiteering, which we think is inconsistent with the long-term joy and success of our players,” the company said.
“To ensure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not permitted to be integrated inside our Minecraft client and server applications nor may they be utilized to create NFTs associated with any in-game content,” the company said.
NFTs are a particularly contentious subject among gamers, who’ve pushed back on initiatives from Ubisoft and other publishers aimed at incorporating the technology into their games.
Acquired by Microsoft in 2014 for $2.5 billion, Minecraft is the best-selling game of all time, with lifetime sales of more than 238 million units. The game’s success has been attributed to a focus on accessibility and for being family-friendly.
Last month, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates blasted NFTs as “100% based on greater fool theory” — a reference to the idea that an overvalued asset can be inflated in price further if there’s a “greater fool” willing to pay up for it.
