Rockstar Games bans NFTs from Fanmade servers

American video game studio, Rockstar Games, bans the use of NFTs and cryptocurrency on its several fanmade online servers. It has just recently updated its company policy regarding the “use of cryptocurrencies or crypto assets (e.g “NFTs”)”, effectively prohibiting its use in numerous Rockstar Games servers.

Rockstar Games is known for producing popular game titles such as the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption. On top of releasing a single-player story-based mode, the game also includes an online multiplayer mode that allows users to interact with other user-generated worlds.

GTA Fan Servers

These servers are mainly called “role-playing servers” where players can freely join in a player-made customized version of GTA. Due to its inherent freedom, some servers included NFTs and cryptocurrency as added features to give incentives to their users.

Image source: Rockstar Games

Numerous customized servers were forced to shut down due to Rockstar’s updated policies.“Trenches RP” and MyMetaverse are a few popular GTA servers that were severely affected by this change. As a result, some servers will be shutting down entirely while others will comply with the policies by only removing web3 features from their mod.

In blockchain gaming, NFT games use cryptocurrency and NFTs to allow users to own in-game assets. Players will be able to trade, sell, and hold their digital assets enabling them to earn by playing the game. 

GTA multiplayer is very similar to a web3 gaming trend called “metaverse” where players can role-play and create worlds using their own imagination. You can see which metaverse games are the best by visiting https://chainplay.gg/genre/metaverse/.

Rockstar Games, Minecraft, Steam…

Microsoft-owned crafting game, Minecraft also announced plans to say no to NFTs and cryptocurrency earlier this year. Like Rockstar, Mojang prohibited its use on fan-made servers while popular gaming platform, Steam also banned web3games from being featured on its platform.

Minecraft and GTA are one of the most iconic games within their genre. Rockstar Game’s decision may have a huge impact on how other companies approach the issue of NFTs.

Interestingly enough, video game companies like Epic Games and Ubisoft have embraced NFTs and cryptocurrencies on their games and platforms. Epic Games made headlines when it introduced Blankos Block Party into its store platform. However, not all web3 adoption goes smoothly as one would expect.

It is worth noting that Ubisoft's first NFT experiment created a “dumpster fire” that ended in failure just four months after its launch, further showcasing the importance of a proper plan in adopting blockchain technologies.

Will the web2 video game industry be able to handle the full transition towards web3? Which companies do you think are most capable of achieving mass adoption?