The Wednesday news came as a surprise to most that Minecraft’s developer, Mojang Studios, banned the use and integration of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and blockchain technology from the game, claiming:
"Like any digital file, NFTs can be copied, moved, or even deleted. Additionally, NFTs and blockchain have also been associated with price speculation. These uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies create digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which does not align with Minecraft's values of creative inclusion and playing together."
Along with this statement, Mojang also said that NFTs had a history of being fraudulent and adding them would have meant less inclusivity in the game as players would focus more on playing to earn instead of just enjoying the game. It would have taken away the reason for which the game was created. Mojang continued:
“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.”
Although the current reports seem negative towards NFTs and blockchain, Mojang said that they will be keeping tabs on the evolving technology and might one day implement something similar into the game, however, it will not happen anytime soon. Furthermore, there is still no information as to how these changes will influence last year’s partnership with Enjin to make official Minecraft NFTs.
Nevertheless, Minecraft is the #1 game in the world. It is unlikely that its popularity will drop even though there are some that oppose the new ban.
