Mojang, developers of online block building game Minecraft which is the world's best-selling video game, have issued a statement clarifying their stance on NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

While their statement notes the possibility of this changing in the future, right now it is a very firm "no".

...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, including worlds, skins, persona items, or other mods.

Like others in the gaming industry they cite concerns about the potential for their players to be scammed but interestingly also say:

We have these rules to ensure that Minecraft remains a community where everyone has access to the same content.

and:

NFTs are not inclusive of all our community and create a scenario of the haves and the have-nots.

Minecraft is a subscription game and for players the big appeal of a subscription is exactly this - you're paying a set monthly amount for access to everything.

Cash shops, i.e. paying real money for in-game items (a.k.a. microtransactions or NFTs), are how free-to-play (as in no purchase cost) games make money.

Sadly for players many online games with subscriptions began double-dipping and added cash shops.

What's the point of subscribing then?

Seems like Minecraft might be one of the very few online games which have and might continue to hold this line.

Funny how they're so popular.

[ Main Image: Minecraft. Credit: Mojang via IMDb.com. ]

References

Minecraft (July 20, 2022). Minecraft and NFTs: An early look at our upcoming guidelines.

Wikipedia. Minecraft. (viewed July 22, 2022)