A recently published patent shows Sony Interactive Entertainment has been exploring ways it could use NFTs and blockchain technology in games.
Filed last year and released on Thursday, Sony’s patent (through Segment Next) is titled “An NFT Framework for Transferring and Accessing Digital Assets Across Gaming Platforms”.
“As acknowledged herein, in some applications such as computer/video games, an NFT may represent a game’s artwork or asset (such as a character or weapon or other game asset), but current systems are technically insufficient for the owner to use the asset across games and platforms,” reads the summary.
“Accordingly, as further acknowledged herein, the functionality of the game may be improved by allowing players and/or spectators to have exclusive use of the asset and possibly transfer the rights to it to others via NFT.”
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One example is that players get a unique skin in the game, which can then be used in other games and even on different game platforms.
Such NFTs could also be “transferred to others (eg sold to others for value or exchanged),” Sony said.
Another example describes rewarding the person who defeats the first boss with “the right to use weapons damaged by the hunter in other games under the new NFT.”
“Another example is minting an NFT that represents a certain level, score, and/or accumulation of points in a certain video game,” the patent says.
“The NFT can then be transferred to someone else, who can then pick up the game where the transferor left off according to the NFT, with the transferee starting the game at the same level, with the same score and/or the same points accumulated. . . as the transferor.”
Sony’s patent was filed in May 2021 and published at the beginning of last November revealed that the company had been actively exploring the possible use of NFT and blockchain technology in games.
Last September, the platform holder launched a loyalty program called PlayStation Stars, which allows players to earn digital rewards by completing different However, it was fast distance program from NFTwhich have received criticism due to the format’s large carbon footprint and many cynical implementations.
“It’s definitely not an NFT,” said Grace Chen, PlayStation’s vice president of online advertising, loyalty and licensed products. The Washington Post. “Absolutely not. They cannot be traded or sold. It does not utilize any blockchain technologies and certainly not NFT.”
Gaming companies that have launched NFT projects or are considering doing so include Square Enix, Ubisoft, Konami and Sega.
