Epic Games Says Their Doors Are Open to Crypto, NFT Games After Steam Ban

RJ Pierce, Tech Times 15 October 2021, 10:10 pm

Epic Games just said that they're open to letting crypto and NFT games on their platform, shortly after Steam banned all of those games from theirs.

(Photo : Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Epic Games logo is seen displayed on a phone screen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on May 3, 2021.

The Verge reports, however, that Epic Games will still have certain limitations when it comes to letting crypto and NFT games on, while also saying that they'd be "willing" to work with developers on the so-called new field.

This admission comes after Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that his company isn't willing to implement NFT mechanics in "Fortnite."

Sweeney made that clear back in late September, when further claimed that the main reason they don't like it is because it's allegedly "full of scams," according to a ScreenRant report.

For now, Epic Games says that they will be clarifying the rules and limitations of allowing NFT and cryptocurrency games on the platform.

They're saying that for these games to be allowed, all of them must comply with a lot of financial laws, as well as use their very own payment services instead.

That's because Epic Games themselves would not allow the company's payment system to be used to trade crypto, as per the original Verge report.

Steam's Ban on Crypto and NFT Games

Epic Games' announcement does follow shortly after Steam decided to ban crypto and NFT games on their store, for still unannounced reasons.

As a result, a lot of developers of blockchain-based titles are reporting that their games are already being taken down. "Age of Rust" was one of those games, with the developers tweeting about it:

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. Behind the scenes, we've had good communication and have been upfront with Steam. #blockchaingames #NFT
1/4 pic.twitter.com/W4pR3Xl63q
— Age of Rust (@AgeofRust) October 14, 2021

"Age of Rust" developers said that the recent Steam ban is "a setback to all," further claiming that crypto and NFT games are "the future."

Epic Games and Blockchain Games: A Potential Business Boom?

Crypto and NFT games are the fad these days, and one can't deny that. Games such as "Axie Infinity" have been making the rounds for the past several months, because of the insane financial gains that they give players.

(Photo : Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
BRAZIL - 2021/09/01: In this photo illustration, a Non-fungible token (NFT) logo seen displayed on a smartphone along with a shopping cart.

These games have been so profitable that some of them can even earn people as much as $100 a day just playing. The business potential of this field is something that Epic Games might find hard to ignore.

However, this doesn't mean that anybody who got their games banned on Steam can just go to Epic and host their games there.

As of late, Epic Games' self-publishing program is in closed beta. The only way in, according to the official FAQs, is to be chosen as membership relies on a case-by-case basis.

Can This Be Epic's Ace Against Valve?

Steam is still the world's largest online game distribution platform. Epic Games still plays second-fiddle partly due to Valve's extensive 18-year industry experience, but they're slowly catching up.

As per Eurogamer, Epic has experienced massive growth in recent years. They went from 32 million users two years ago to 56 million as of October last year. This is still nowhere close to Valve who regularly tops 100 million active users, but it's still excellent growth nonetheless.

Should Epic allow crypto and NFT games (given the great profit potential), they're going to have a big ace up their sleeve.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce