NFTs and video games

In recent weeks, many large video game companies have spoken out about NFTs. Valve (the owner of the largest PC video game platform) has positioned itself against it and has banned blockchain -based video games from its Steam digital store. Other companies such as Ubisoft , Take-Two and Electronic Arts have become interested in these new technologies and believe that they are part of the future of electronic entertainment.

For practical purposes, NFTs will allow the creation of unique items that could be sold and exchanged between users. NFT Development services Depending on the scarcity of each product and its demand, its value would increase or decrease, allowing users to earn money by buying and selling them. This is what Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson is referring to when he talks about “ play-to-earn ”.

Companies like EA already have great video games based on these principles without the need to include NFTs. The monetization system of FIFA Ultimate Team , the most popular game mode in FIFA 22 , is based on the trading of packs and player cards, something that could be easily adapted and transformed into non-fungible tokens .

There are also some games already based on blockchain technology , such as CryptoKitties , Plant Vs Undead and Wanaka . But, without a doubt, the most important title is Axie Infinity , launched in 2018 by the Sky Mavis studio and based on the Ethereum cryptocurrency network. Axie Infinity is a game in which users can breed monsters to later use them in fights against other players. Every monster is actually an NFT.

NFTs, speculation and the environment

In a recent interview with Axios , Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has taken a stand against NFTs and blockchain technology in video games. “I think there’s a lot of speculation and experimentation and, nowadays, it feels more like something that explodes rather than entertainment,” he says.

Currently NFTs are mainly used to make (and lose) money in the speculative market of cryptocurrencies. Very few users buy these tokens to keep them, most do so because they hope to resell them for a higher price. NFT Development company have no value, they are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them.

On the other hand, most non- fungible tokens are based on the Ethereum cryptocurrency network, one of the most polluting digital currencies. In order to work, blockchain technology needs computing centers that keep the network active by verifying all transactions. These mines, as they are known in the industry, operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week with large facilities connected to the Internet and the electricity grid. According to a study by the University of Cambridge , Bitcoin consumes 113.7 TWh in a year, more than the annual electricity consumption of the Netherlands (111 TWh).

It is very likely that these technologies will end up being part of the industry, whether or not they have a real utility. Although cases have already been seen, such as that of the Discord communication application , which has ended up withdrawing its implementation of cryptocurrencies after receiving thousands of complaints from users.

Let’s take the example of a photograph that is shared on social networks. It is true that everyone can download this image, print it and use it however they want; but with NFT technology the author can define how many of these copies are “official” and who exactly they belong to. For the most enthusiastic, NFTs create a kind of digital art market.

As cryptocurrencies already do, non-fungible tokens are based on networks of millions of users that constantly certify all transactions made with NFTs, this is the basis of blockchain technology . For a sale to be effective, the majority of network users must validate it, in this way we try to guarantee its veracity and avoid scams. It is a decentralized and totally anonymous system that is now mainly used for speculation.

Words like metaverse , blockchain , and NFT have been trending for the past few months. Some people see in them the new technological revolution, while for others they are just new ways of speculating. Video game companies as big as Ubisoft, Electronic Arts or Take-Two see the future of the medium in NFTs, but for the most skeptical these new words only serve to excite shareholders.

NFT stands for non-fungible token , which could be translated into Spanish as non-fungible token or non-fungible asset. For practical purposes, it is a digital certificate of ownership and authenticity, like the document that proves that a painting is an authentic Van Gogh. On the Internet, almost any type of file — a photo, a video or an audio file — can be copied, downloaded and shared. NFTs limit these possibilities because they are linked to unique files, scarce and recognized by their author as the original ones.

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