Mojang’s Block Game Bucks the Blockchain’s Big Bucks
Today, Mojang – creators of the ever-popular Minecraft – released a statement on NFTs. They’re going through a bit of a shake-up right now, as they’re currently designing chat restriction functionality, and a new set of “Minecraft Usage Guidelines.” As part of that process, Mojang has given us a peek at their feelings on this controversial technology: and it’s a strong one. “We wanted to take the opportunity to share our view that integrations of NFTs with Minecraft are generally not something we will support or allow.”
Unlike some other articles posted on Minecraft’s official site, this article is simply credited to “staff”. It’s hard to tell exactly which part of Mojang this message comes from. Be it a legal department, the whole crew, or something else. But the almost legal-eze used in the article’s text indicates that someone wanted to be very particular with this language.
“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 did offer an explanation of their view, though. After touching on some facets of NFT usage, they said: “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.”
How do you feel about these reasons? Do they go too far, or not far enough? We’d love to hear from you in the comments down below!