Valve updated their rules and guidelines on Steam that effectively bans all games implementing NFTs and blockchain technology. On the other hand, Epic Games Store openly welcomes games that use blockchain tech – with a few caveats.
Steam officially listed changes regarding digital trading on its’ onboarding document for partners and Steamworks users. In their Rules and Guidelines section, Valve rejects any “applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange or cryptocurrencies or NFTs.”
Despite this shift in regulation, there hasn’t been any PR announcement regarding the matter. However, Steam notified multiple dev teams about getting kicked off the platform for allowing trade with cryptocurrencies and the like. Age of Rust is one of them, and according to the team, Valve’s main reason is that they will not allow items that can have real-world value on their platform.
Merely hours later, Epic Games Store CEO Tim Sweeney announced that Epic would welcome games using blockchain technology. There are caveats, though – mostly that games must follow relevant laws and disclose terms. There is confusion about his stance with NFT games since less than a month ago, Sweeney tweeted that Epic Games wouldn’t touch NFTs:
The rise of NFTs invites a troubling future for gaming akin to the conflict-fueled history of microtransactions. Even the unreleased Intellivision Amico hopes to use NFTs. Once again, gamers face another digital financial worry that doesn’t belong in the gaming world – yet will garner success for the companies who abuse them and the gamers who fall prey to their cleverness.
