Mojang’s statement about the tech is surprisingly harsh.
Even though the whole NFT thing seems to be going away, some companies, like Square Enix, are still trying to justify partnering with technology that only exists as a huge scam. It’s clear that Mojang is not one of them.
In a long statement posted on Minecraft’s website, the team goes into great detail about why they haven’t used blockchain technology yet and why they’ve decided to ban any use of blockchain technology in Minecraft.
While there is a short note saying, “Hey, if blockchain can ever prove it’s not a huge scam, then maybe we’ll look at it,” most of the post is an attack on the techs for promoting “digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which is not in line with Minecraft’s values of creative inclusion and playing together.”
It also explains why blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are not allowed in Minecraft. It says, “To make sure Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not allowed to be integrated into our client and server applications. Also, Minecraft in-game content like worlds, skins, persona items, or other mods cannot be used by blockchain technology to create a scarce digital asset.”
You can see the whole policy below (their emphasis, not mine).
OUR POLICY ON NFTS AND MINECRAFT
In our Minecraft Usage Guidelines, we explain how a server owner can charge for access and that all players should be able to use the same features. We have these rules so that Minecraft stays a place where everyone can enjoy the same things. NFTs, on the other hand, can set up models of scarcity and exclusion that go against our Rules and the spirit of Minecraft.
To make sure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not allowed to be integrated into our client and server applications. Blockchain technologies also can’t be used to make Minecraft in-game content, like worlds, skins, persona items, or other mods, into a scarce digital asset. Here are the reasons why.
Some companies have just started using NFT for things like Minecraft world files and skin packs. Other ways that NFTs and blockchain could be used with Minecraft are to make Minecraft collectible NFTs, let players earn NFTs by doing things on a server, or give Minecraft NFT rewards for doing things outside of the game.
Each of these uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies creates digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which doesn’t fit with Minecraft’s values of creative inclusion and playing together. NFTs don’t include everyone in our community and make it look like there are those who have and those who don’t. The way NFTs are priced and thought of as investments take attention away from playing the game and encourages profiteering, which we don’t think is good for our players’ long-term happiness and success.
We are also worried that some third-party NFTs may not be reliable and may end up costing players who buy them. Some third-party NFT implementations also depend entirely on blockchain technology and may need an asset manager who could leave without warning. There have also been times when NFTs were sold at prices that were inflated artificially or through fraud. We know that what people make in our game has value on its own, and we try to make a market where that value can be seen.
So, to make sure that Minecraft players have a safe and welcoming experience, blockchain technologies can’t be added to our client or server software, and they can’t be used to make NFTs for any in-game content, like worlds, skins, persona items, or other mods. We will also keep a close eye on how blockchain technology changes over time to make sure that the above rules are followed and to see if it will make gaming more secure or have other useful and inclusive uses. But right now, there are no plans to add blockchain technology to Minecraft.
