On Wednesday, Minecraft's developer Mojang Studios said that it would be excluding the integration of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, alongside blockchain technology as a whole, in its popular namesake game. Mojang wrote this explanation:
According to Mojang, "To ensure that Minecraft users have a safe, inclusive experience, blockchain technology is not allowed to be integrated into our client and server apps, nor may Minecraft content such as worlds and skins, persona objects, or other mods be used by blockchain technology to create an exclusive digital asset."
The company also attacked the "speculative price" and "investment mentality around NFTs that degrade the game experience and encourage profiteering, to the detriment long-term gameplay. Furthermore, it pointed to rug-pulls surrounding certain third-party NFT integrations as well as NFT wash trading, or fraudulent price manipulation to support the ban.
Under the new rules, third-party blockchain technologies cannot be integrated with client and server applications within Minecraft. They cannot be used to create NFTs with in-game content such as worlds, skins, or other mods. The changes will not affect all Minecraft gamers but it is likely that a small number of gamers are also benefiting from in game NFTs. Third-party NFT collections that digitize Minecraft assets for resale may be in violation of these terms and could face legal consequences.