Vice have published an article about an unusual implementation of a cryptocurrency in online space exploration / building / fighting game No Man's Sky.

Hub Coin. By players. Not the developers.

Created and managed by player group The Galactic Hub.

Unlike most cryptos Hub Coin has no associated real-world value and can only be exchanged for goods and services in-game or Hub merchandise.

Merchandise? Seriously? For a player guild?

Yes.

So much eye-rolling.

It demonstrates an impressive degree of organisation and also artistic talent - they are well designed - but back in our day player guilds were about having fun together.

Not plundering players' wallets.

We regard some of the claims Vice make about No Man's Sky to be highly questionable and they also fail to address the key issue here.

Of currency they say:

When you reach the No Man’s Sky endgame, you might find yourself drowning in in-game currency without much to spend it on.

That's certainly true but No Man's Sky is a virtual multiverse, not a virtual shopping mall.

With one exception currencies are incredibly easy to acquire.

Because it's a single-player game with multiplayer functionality rather than an online one, PC players can even just edit their save file to give themselves as much money as they like.

In effect No Man's Sky is a post-scarcity economy approaching but not quite on the same level of Star Trek (if you're save editing it can be) which eschews currency entirely.

So what's the point of Hub Coin?

Gizmokhan, Deputy Secretary of the Galactic Hub Treasury says:

Basically, end-game players have no real use for the in-game currency, which makes it difficult to reward players in the community.

Do they need to be rewarded?

Many game economies have a chore-like quality.

Players must perform often interminably boring and repetitive tasks to buy in-game items.

Can that design keep players playing a game for longer?

Yes.

Is it fun?

Less clear.

Will players embrace Hub Coin?

We think not.

In sci-fi parlance imagine some group of Ferengi rocking up in The Federation and declaring that they're opening a bank for you to join.

You'll perform chores for them with an assigned value and they'll record that in their ledger.

With what you've earned you can purchase things.

Or you skip their pointless treadmill and continue asking any replicator for what you need or want.

[ Main Image: No Man's Sky. Credit: Hello Games. ]

References

Jackson, Gita (June 28, 2022). 'No Man's Sky' Players Are Reinventing Money. Vice.

Redbubble. NMSGalacticHub. (viewed July 6, 2022)

Wikipedia. Post-scarcity economy. (viewed July 6, 2022)