Developers behind Minecraft, one of the biggest video games in the world, said they are not looking to support integration with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or blockchain technology, arguing they “encourage profiteering.”

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Fast facts

• In a recent blog post, developer Mojang Studios said the technology encourages digital scarcity and exclusion that conflict with “the spirit of Minecraft.”
  

• They also expressed concern for the authenticity and viability of third-party NFT implementations, highlighting the difficulty in preventing fraud or projects with over-inflated prices.
  

• “NFTs are not inclusive of all our community and create a scenario of the haves and the have-nots,” developers wrote, “[which] is inconsistent with the long-term joy and success of our players.”
  

• Mojang stopped short of saying they will never integrate with the technology, however, by concluding they have no plans to implement blockchain technology right now.
  

• With over 200 million global sales and a gaming model based on building and collecting items, Minecraft’s stance would come as a blow to NFT advocates’ attempts to integrate with the mainstream gaming industry and community.
  

• The mainstream gaming community is broadly antagonistic toward NFTs; Discord, a social media platform popular with gamers, had to quickly backtrack late last year following community backlash for floating an integration with Ethereum.

See related article: Discord dismisses ETH integration amid community backlash