In a surprise move, Valve has introduced a new provision that bans games that feature cryptocurrencies and NFTs from its Steam digital distribution platform. The new regulation shows up in the heading What You Shouldn’t Publish On Steam, in the onboarding documentation for partners and Steamworks users.
13. Applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.
As it stands, Valve is banning new games and removing existing ones from its platform that violate their latest ruling. The first to report this are the developers of the crypto video game Age of Rust. On their Twitter account, they announced that “Steam will be kicking all blockchain games off the platform, including Age Of Rust, because NFTs have value.”
Apart from the above, Valve has released no statement about the amendment to their rules.
Steam is not the only platform to announce they won’t be participating in NFTs. Months before, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that they won’t be touching NFTs either.
“We aren’t touching NFTs as the whole field is currently tangled up with an intractable mix of scams, interesting decentralized tech foundations, and scams.”
Message received. Both platforms appear to be heading off cases of fraud before they happen. That said, hours after Steam announced their ruling, Sweeney took to Twitter again to announce that Epic Games would “welcome games that make use of blockchain tech provided they follow the relevant laws, disclose their terms, and are age-rated by an appropriate group.”
These announcements come when developers and gaming companies are turning a favorable eye on crypto and NFTs, with the likes of Square Enix pushing its Million Arthur NFT and Sega selling NFTs based on its IPs.
While crypto and NFTs are off the table for Steam, blockchain is still a viable game feature, and more blockchain-based games are sure to come.
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