Minecraft bans NFTs and blockchain technologies from the game & its servers

Minecraft bans NFTs and blockchain technologies from the game & its servers
Ben Borthwick Updated on by

Posted in News

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Mojang Studios has declared that it will not support the use of NFTs or blockchain technology within Minecraft.

The studio made the announcement in a blog post outlining its stance on the controversial technology. It said “NFTs can create models of scarcity and exclusion that conflict with our Guidelines and the spirit of Minecraft. To ensure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not permitted to be integrated inside our client and server applications, nor may Minecraft in-game content such as worlds, skins, persona items or other mods, be utilized by blockchain technology to create a scarce digital asset.”

Mojang elaborated on its reasoning further in the statement. “Each of these uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies creates digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which does not align with Minecraft values of creative inclusion and playing together. NFTs are not inclusive of all our community and create a scenario of the haves and the have-nots. 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.”

NFTs have proven a very controversial topic in gaming of late. Earlier this year, Team17 wound up abandoning a MetaWorms NFT project after heavy backlash from fans and developers. Storefront Itch.io also banned them from their platform back in February. Some companies are still pushing ahead, however, such as the “first NFT console”, the Polium One, announced earlier this month.