Steam Bans Games Featuring Cryptocurrency and NFTs

Cryptocurrency is a hot topic, not just in general but within the video game industry. There are an increasing number of games advertising their ties to the blockchain, or hinting at ways of rewarding cryptocurrency or NFT prizes. Despite a very vocal minority of crypto-fans, however, the technology remains highly controversial due to environmental concerns, market volatility, and seemingly everpresent scams. It's perhaps no surprise then that Valve has decided to ban blockchain games from being sold on Steam.

The news comes from Age of Rust developer SpacePirate Games. Age of Rust is a blockchain-integrated adventure game where players can collect in-game NFTs by solving puzzles. In a Twitter thread, SpacePirate Games says that it was clear and communicative with Valve about the nature of the game, only to be told that Age of Rust would be removed from Steam. SpacePirate Games was told that Steam does not allow games to include items with real-world value on the platform.

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In its first tweet, SpacePirate Games links a list of Rules and Guidelines from Steam, which consists of 13 rules regarding what shouldn't be published on Steam. The rules are mostly rather standard, banning hate speech, sexually explicit images of real people, and regionally illegal content. The latest rule, rule number thirteen, is specific to blockchain technology. It says that all applications built on blockchain technology, and here's the key part, that "issue or allow the exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs" shouldn't be published on Steam.

It actually isn't clear when Valve officially banned games featuring cryptocurrency or NFTs. The rules and guidelines may have been updated some time ago, but is only now having attention called to it. Valve's had a tumultuous relationship with cryptocurrency in the past. In 2017, Valve announced it would no longer accept Bitcoin as a payment method due to volatility in transaction costs. A year later Valve banned a developer whose game secretly farmed cryptocurrency.

Suffice to say, Valve has good reason to be nervous about not just the nature of blockchain technology in video games, but also the intent of the creators that use it. That said, Valve has not issued an official statement regarding games with cryptocurrency or NFTs being banned. As such, the reasons for its decision aren't entirely clear.

On one hand, it's clear that blockchain technology can and has been used to scam video game players. On the other hand, Valve does allow items with real-money value in its games, like Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive cosmetics.

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Steam Bans Games Featuring Cryptocurrency and NFTs
Source: Pinay Diaries PH