‘Minecraft’ bans NFTs for promoting “scarcity and exclusion”

Mojang has banned NFTs and blockchain technology from Minecraft, stating that “profiteering” and “models of scarcity and inclusion” have no place in the game.

In a statement released yesterday (July 20), Mojang confirmed that blockchain technology and NFTs based on Minecraft are banned.

Due to Minecraft‘s broad popularity, the game has been the target for third-party NFT world files and skin packs – something Mojang is not comfortable with.

“Each of these uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies creates digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which does not align with Minecraft values of creative inclusion and playing together,” explained Mojang.

“NFTs are not inclusive of all our community and create a scenario of the haves and the have-nots. The speculative pricing and investment mentality around NFTs takes the focus away from playing the game and encourages profiteering, which we think is inconsistent with the long-term joy and success of our players.”

Mojang went on to explain that it is concerned that “some third-party NFTs may not be reliable and may end up costing players who buy them,” and added that the price of NFTs can be inflated fraudulently. As a result, the company has outlined that the technology has no place in Minecraft:

“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.”

“We have no plans of implementing blockchain technology into Minecraft right now,” added Mojang.

Back in April, environmental group Climate Replay – a group made up primarily of Mojang developers – criticised NFTs as “an unnecessary expenditure of physical resources.”

In other gaming news, FIFA 23 will introduce women’s club football to the series when it launches on September 30.