Yesterday Valve told developers that they wouldn’t allow games featuring NFTs or cryptocurrency on their digital storefront, Steam. Since then, Epic have followed up by telling The Verge that the Epic Games Store would be “open to games that support cryptocurrency or blockchain-based assets.”
When asked about games featuring NFTs, Epic said that there would be limitations but that they were willing to work with developers in the “new field”.
Tim Sweeney followed The Verge’s story on Twitter with a personal tweet. “Epic Games Store will welcome games that make use of blockchain tech provided they follow the relevant laws, disclose their terms, and are age-rated by an appropriate group. Though Epic’s not using crypto in our games, we welcome innovation in the areas of technology and finance,” wrote Epic’s co-founder.
Epic Games Store will welcome games that make use of blockchain tech provided they follow the relevant laws, disclose their terms, and are age-rated by an appropriate group. Though Epic’s not using crypto in our games, we welcome innovation in the areas of technology and finance. https://t.co/6W7hb8zJBw
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) October 15, 2021
That sounds contrary to a tweet Sweeney made less than three weeks ago. “We aren’t touching NFTs as the whole field is currently tangled up with an intractable mix of scams, interesting decentralized tech foundations, and scams,” he wrote.
Perhaps Sweeney was only referring to his Epic’s own games, although “we aren’t touching” is broad language and a long way from “open to” and ‘willing to work with’.
The Epic Games Store is fighting for market share against Steam’s dominance, primarily by using exclusives and free giveaways. Allowing games which rely on the blockchain might attract a handful of developers, but it’s enormously off-putting for me as a user. I’d like the Epic Games Store to succeed, because competition is broadly good, but I’m glad Steam binned games using NFTs from their store and I hope Epic change their minds.
