Valve’s Gabe Newell explained why the Steam platform banned games containing NFTs and blockchain technology.
The integration of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) into games has generated largely negative reactions. And that’s as industry titans like Square Enix and Take Two continue to explore ways to use them in games.
NFTs have gained favor with various influencers and content creators. The barrier between legitimate investment and scam has therefore become increasingly blurred. In this context, Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell explained why Steam has banned games with NFT and the integration of cryptocurrencies on the Steam Marketplace.
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Gabe Newell wants to keep Steam away from the “fraudulent” NFT scene
Speaking to James Archer of Rock Paper Shotgun, Gabe Newell said “At one time, Steam was accepting cryptocurrencies for payments. And it turned out to infuriate customers. There was the issue of volatility: you don’t want your pricing to fluctuate when it’s anchored on people’s salaries.”
Newell believes the NFT scene is made up “criminal activity and a lot of fraudulent behavior”and are “not people you really want to do business with”.
Using cryptocurrency seemed like more hassle than it was worth for Steam and its customers. Newell, commenting on the confusion caused by these cryptocurrencies: “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 market place. That was a problem, that kind of volatility was creating more problems for our customers than the value of having the ability to use cryptocurrencies.”
Steam has therefore chosen not to succumb to the NFT siren.
“The vast majority of these transactions, for whatever reason, were fraudulent. Where again people were repudiating transactions or using illegal sources of funds and things like that”Newell added.
The president of Steam clarified that his thoughts are not a reflection “on the underlying technology” but rather on the people who use “the opportunity to scam customers, or engage in money laundering, or other things like that.”