A newly printed patent suggests Sony Interactive Entertainment has been actively exploring the usage of NFTs and blockchain expertise in video games.
NFTs are distinctive non-interchangeable items of knowledge saved on a blockchain (a type of digital ledger), which successfully enable customers to purchase and promote digital merchandise like in-game objects or art work.
Originally filed final yr and printed this month, the Sony patent (by way of Gamesual) is titled ‘Monitoring Distinctive In-Sport Digital Property Utilizing Tokens on a Distributed Ledger’.
It covers a system which may very well be used to trace the creation of, use, modification, and switch of digital belongings created inside a recreation, and/or belongings created primarily based on gameplay of a online game.
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“People usually discover it significant to personal or use distinctive bodily objects associated to revered celebrities or actions,” the background part of the patent notes. “For instance, followers of expert baseball participant Babe Ruth, or of baseball generally, usually search to buy and personal baseballs autographed by Ruth, baseballs hit by Ruth in an necessary baseball recreation, buying and selling playing cards depicting Ruth, and the like.”
Sony suggests its system may very well be used to confirm the authenticity of digital belongings utilized by expert gamers or standard content material creators, which different gamers could wish to purchase, promote of hire.
“Expert gamers of multiplayer video video games achieve recognition in matches or tournaments, which are sometimes live-streamed or in any other case broadcast to quite a few viewers,” it wrote. “Likewise, well-known gamers usually live-stream or in any other case broadcast gameplay of single-player or multiplayer video video games, as an illustration wherein the gamers carry out or try speed-runs, in-game challenges, multiplayer matches, or different gameplay actions. Some gamers who’re notably expert or charismatic can develop giant followings of devoted followers, very like fan followings for well-known athletes, singers, actors, or different celebrities.
“In some video video games, a participant can use digital belongings throughout gameplay. Such digital belongings can embrace, for instance, particular characters, costumes, or objects. In conventional video video games, a number of situations of the identical in-game merchandise exist throughout the identical copy of the online game and/or inside completely different copies of the online game.
“These completely different situations of the identical in-game merchandise are historically fungible, as they’re indistinguishable from each other. As an illustration, even when a specific in-game merchandise is uncommon to acquire throughout the online game, the in-game merchandise is represented within the online game as a string of code that’s an identical to representations of different situations of the identical in-game merchandise in the identical online game, and / or in different copies of the identical online game. Thus, in conventional video video games, nobody digital asset is exclusive from different situations of the identical in-game merchandise.
“Consequently, in conventional video video games, there is no such thing as a strategy to know, monitor, or authenticate a historical past of a specific occasion of an in-game merchandise. As an illustration, in conventional video video games, there is no such thing as a strategy to differentiate a selected occasion of an in-game merchandise {that a} well-known participant of the online game used to win a well-known event from some other occasion of the in-game merchandise.”
Sony mentioned the techniques and applied sciences described in its patent utility may very well be used to trace the lifecycle of digital belongings throughout completely different {hardware} platforms, together with these “of a special albeit inferior producer”, and throughout titles from numerous publishers.
It wrote: “The methods and applied sciences described herein develop the capabilities of digital belongings related to video video games, and of techniques that create and handle such digital belongings, by changing the digital belongings related to video video games from being fungible to being non-fungible.
“The methods and applied sciences described herein develop the performance of digital belongings related to video video games, and of techniques that create and handle such digital belongings, by monitoring a historical past of the digital belongings.
“Monitoring the historical past of the digital belongings can embrace, for instance, monitoring when, how, and by whom the digital asset was created, used, modified, rented to, rented by, bought to, bought by, licensed to, licensed by, exchanged to, exchanged by, and / or different actions.”
Sony just lately launched a brand new loyalty scheme called PlayStation Stars, which allows gamers to earn digital rewards by finishing numerous actions. Nevertheless, it was quick to distance the program from NFTs, which have attracted criticism in some quarters because of the format’s excessive carbon footprint and what many understand to be cynical implementation.
“It’s positively not NFTs,” Grace Chen, PlayStation’s vice chairman of community promoting, loyalty and licensed merchandise, instructed The Washington Post. “Undoubtedly not. You may’t commerce them or promote them. It’s not leveraging any blockchain applied sciences and positively not NFTs.”
Gaming corporations which have launched NFT initiatives or are contemplating doing so embrace Square Enix, Ubisoft, Konami and Sega.
