Valve’s reasoning appears rooted in the potential to exchange NFTs for real money.
Valve has quietly delivered a new edict: No NFTs or cryptocurrency on Steam. The recently updated Steam distribution onboarding guidelines specifically ban any „applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.“ In short, NFTs are unique digital receipts (stored on a blockchain, a sort of irreversible ledger database) that are typically correlated with ‚ownership‘ of a jpg file or some other piece of digital media. NFTs are typically purchased with cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Ethereum (also blockchain transactions), which can be sold for US dollars and other national currencies at exchanges. Valve hasn’t explained why it’s banning NFTs and cryptocurrencies from Steam, but the decision doesn’t appear rooted in any of the recent scandals or controversies around blockchain tech: NFTs have been used to scam people out of millions of dollars in exchange for what amounts to a receipt for a JPG, it’s led to theft of art designed for other games, and the environmental cost of blockchain ledgers remains a controversial issue. A series of tweets from Age of Rust developer SpacePirate gives us a little insight. Age of Rust assigns NFTs to unique items and gear, and even missions. SpacePirate tweeted Thursday that the company was notified that Steam would be removing all blockchain-based projects, including Age of Rust. SpacePirate says that Steam’s ban on NFTs and cryptocurrency is an extension of a general ban on items that have a real-world monetary value. Community: A few minutes ago, we were notified that @Steam will be kicking *all blockchain games* off the platform, including Age of Rust, because NFTs have value.
