Minecraft Drops a Bomb

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Austin Miller & John Meyer
July 22, 2022

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Microsoft, Mojang Studios Say No

This past week has been a bit of a whirlwind because of one story.

That story? Microsoft-owned Mojang Studios announced that Minecraft, one of the most popular video games of all time, is saying no to the blockchain.

More specifically, Mojang stated this:

"To ensure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not permitted to be integrated inside our Minecraft client and server applications nor may they be utilized to create NFTs associated with any in-game content, including worlds, skins, persona items, or other mods"

Why did they make this decision? →

Scarcity and Exclusion

Mojang notes that there is a "speculative pricing and investment mentality" around NFTs that takes the focus away from playing the game and encourages profiteering.

Reliability

Mojang also states that they believe third-party NFT platforms and implementations may not be reliable enough. They think that NFTs' reliance on the blockchain is hazardous.

Artificially Inflated Prices

Mojang wants Minecraft's value to be intrinsic. They don't want their game's value to be based on the secondary market of NFTs.

Our reaction →

NFTs are not exclusive

NFT projects are full of diversity, inclusivity, and community. NFTs monetize creativity for artists from all backgrounds. NFTs have also empowered communities to express and educate others on important values (Like UO's Title IX project to fund female athletes).

Reliability is growing

Mojang is right. NFTs are completely reliant on the blockchain.

But this is a good thing.

The blockchain is decentralized and would only become unstable and unreliable if there was a complete internet shutdown.

Unique features of NFT will drive up demand and bring more users to the game

We have to disagree with Mojang's theory here. In our opinion, NFTs enhance the customer experience tremendously. Minecraft NFTs have the potential to be hugely successful because of their already great user base. By releasing an NFT, they could reward their loyal customers and give them perks for their fandom.

Epic Games Says Yes

As you can imagine, the Minecraft news wasn't taken very well by web3 advocates. Chris Dixon, a general partner at venture capital firm a16z, had this to say:

"[The Minecraft news] is a good reminder of why you shouldn’t build on corporate-owned (web2) networks. They change the rules on developers on a whim."

Jefferey Zirlin, the growth lead at Axie Infinity, one of the most popular NFT games on the market today concurred:

"They [Minecraft] don't like that NFTs bring properties of physical goods and real-world social dynamics into digital spaces. This is rooted in a belief that games are only about fun. But games are becoming about way more. Games are increasingly starting to mirror and surpass physical reality in terms of their ability to allow you to express yourself, make friends, and participate in economies. Minecraft is trying to fight the inevitable. This won't end well for them, but it creates opportunities for innovators and risk takers."

Then came some feedback from Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite:

"Developers should be free to decide how to build their games, and you are free to decide whether to play them. I believe stores and operating system makers shouldn’t interfere by forcing their views onto others. We definitely won’t."

Epic Games is a known advocate for the future of gaming, i.e., the metaverse, so it wasn't surprising to see Sweeney make these comments.

Mojang said, " we will be paying close attention to how blockchain technology evolves over time", so it will be interesting to see if they stick to their guns on this topic.

ABCs of NFTs

C - Composability

The Mint is big on education, and that's why we love this series! This week, our term is composability. Composability is vital to crypto, NFTs, the blockchain, and web3 as we know it. Developers are building applications and open systems that can be built and rebuilt with new features. Listen to the video below to hear John explain composability and why it's so important. Or, if you'd rather read an article on the subject, click here.

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