Not every video game with a social aspect needs to adopt the technology. Metaverses can (and do) exist without the need for the blockchain, NFTs, or play-to-earn. He framed this news as Microsoft 'fighting Web 3' along with that Ghandi quote, lamenting that the company is 'shutting the door on potentially billions of users of a Minecraft metaverse.'

Minecraft has nearly 140 million active users, mostly kids, who don't know what the metaverse or Web 3 is. Instead, Zuck is stuck trying to get people into Horizon Worlds. 'Think about how much Meta would have paid to have that kind of door into Web 3. Speaking of Zuck, McBride dives into a rather predatory take (opens in new tab). And it's a bit cringey when you have people like Mark Zuckerberg talking about it as if it's a brand new concept. A lot of games that have been around before the term 'metaverse' started being bandied around fit that description. I'd argue that this is most definitely not the case. One that could be a foundation upon which thousands or even millions of micro-worlds are built.' I'd go so far as say it's bloody bonkers, but it resonated with the NFT crowd apparently, including McBride.īack in his original thread, McBride says that Microsoft has 'failed to realize that Minecraft is more than a video game. Someone's even thrown a Ghandi quote into the chat, which is a bit of an overreach. McBride responds to someone in the that thread who speculates that Mojang's decision could be motivated by 'fear of the decentralised aspects or fear of being superseded by new players in the game.' As mentioned, they have missed on lots of innovations, but this will be their biggest L,' commented another (opens in new tab). 'That is absolutely crazy they don't see the future. Not surprised by this tbh in the least,' said one (opens in new tab). 'Microsoft has nearly missed every social/digital paradigm shift in the past 20 years. Some players sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into digital assets that were rendered absolutely worthless.įellow NFT bros on Twitter chimed in to label Microsoft and Mojang as obtuse, and blind to the opportunities that NFTs bestow. Just look at F1 Delta Time, the official Formula 1 NFT game that shut down earlier this year. But this is precisely the problem with NFTs – you can have the rug pulled from under you at a moment's notice. The thread makes for an interesting read, but as he points out in another tweet (opens in new tab), it's a 'sad day for a lot of friends who thought that Microsoft would be cool with it.' Opportunistic cash grabs using games with a large, young audience as a jumping off point is questionable at the best of times. So based on all of that reasoning, Minecraft won't be hopping on the NFT bandwagon, stating in no uncertain terms that '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.' NFTs and blockchain have also been associated with speculation, where prices are driven up rapidly and as we have recently seen, may fall rapidly.' Yet, with any digital file, that file can be copied, moved, or even deleted. 'The purchase of an NFT provides the token that states the ownership of the original digital file.

There have also been instances where NFTs were sold at artificially or fraudulently inflated prices.'Īnd of course, here's Mojang pointing out the obvious problems in its breakdown of what NFTs are all about: Some third-party NFT implementations are also entirely dependent on blockchain technology and may require an asset manager who might disappear without notice. 'We are also concerned that some third-party NFTs may not be reliable and may end up costing players who buy them. Reliability of third-party NFTs are also flagged, which opens players up to getting scammed: '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.' The first is that it flies in the face of inclusivity, with Mojang feeling like it creates 'a scenario of the haves and the have-nots.' Of course, there's the financial side of things crapping all over the core gameplay experience too. But for now, it's not on the table, for a few reasons.

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