After announcing NFT games will be sold in the Epics store last year, Epics chief executive, Tim Sweeney, has spoken again about Epic game’s take on NFTs. In response to Minecraft’s recent NFT ban, one Twitter user called out Epic Games, and specifically the CEO of Epic Games, for making a similar announcement and taking away any games using blockchain technology from the Epic Games Store. Its CEO, Tim Sweeney, ended his statement by saying Epic Games certainly is not going to limit sales of games on the Epic Games Store for people that have no blockchain technology.
It is important to note that while Minecraft is a big IP and has several small mini-games, Minecraft is a unified franchise developed by Mojang, and the CEO of Epic Games was referring to the third-party games sold on the Epic Games Store, and not solely the games owned by Epic Games. NFT Worlds, a company that sells Minecraft seeds responded, saying NFT Worlds is developing a new game and platform that builds upon many of the core mechanics of their own Minecraft, but that, through modernization and intense development, Minecraft has been missing for years.
Earlier this month, Minecraft developer Mojang specifically banned all NFT technologies from anything related to their game, which reiterates integration of NFT into Minecraft is not generally something that will be supported or permitted. Minecraft developers deemed the speculative nature of NFTs, along with their rarity, danger of being left out, and the possibility of fraud, incompatible with the core values of Minecraft.
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.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 21, 2022
NFT Worlds creators have been staying resolute, issuing a statement on Friday saying they will be developing their own Minecraft competitors now that they are no longer allowed to transact within Minecraft, integrate with the game API, or build NFTs built upon Minecraft developers Mojang IP. Microsofts Mojang Studios announced Wednesday it will soon prohibit NFTs from being used on Minecraft game servers operated by communities.
In a Twitter post, the CEO of Epic Games went on to reaffirm Epic Games’ earlier position, when he tweeted, 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 have been pretty vocal about their stand on NFTs while Steam on the other hand has banned NFT games from its platform entirely.
