Image: Valve
The ban is due to sketchy and fraudulent behaviours observed by the company.
NFTs continue to be a controversial topic in the games industry, with some game publishers supporting the use of blockchain technology while other players push back against the very concept.
When it comes to NFTs, Valve’s co-founder and president Gabe Newell is firmly against their integration in Steam and in a recent interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Newell explained why.
Newell clarified to Rock Paper Shotgun he has no issue with owning something digitally and taking part in a shared universe, but the negatives associated with the NFT movement far outweigh the positives. Newell said, “The people in the space, though, tend to be involved in a lot of criminal activity and a lot of sketchy behaviours.”
Newell compares the usage of NFTs with the volatility of cryptocurrency, pointing out when Steam ran into issues of fraudulent behaviour when it accepted cryptocurrency as a method of payment.
"Like, why did I spend $497 one day to buy a game, and the next day I spent 47 cents, what's going on here? Volatility is a bad thing in a medium of exchange. That was one problem, that sort of volatility was creating more pain for our customers than the value of having the option of using cryptocurrencies."
With NFTs, his concerns lie with the people who use them and engage in fraudulent behaviour.
“With the actors that are currently in this NFT space, they're just not people you really are wanting to be doing business with. That doesn't say anything about the underlying technology, it's just a reflection of the people right now who are viewing it as an opportunity to rip customers off, or engage in money laundering, or other things like that.”
Newell reasserts that his issue isn’t with blockchain technology in general, but the people using them in negative ways that impact other users or players. Steam banned games featuring blockchain technology from the platform back in October 2021, including those dealing in NFTs or cryptocurrency.
It doesn’t sound like Steam will be going back on that decision anytime soon. Square Enix also recently confirmed that NFTs will never be a part of Final Fantasy 14 while unveiling the MMO game’s 10-year roadmap.
