A new patent from Sony indicates that Sony Interactive Entertainment is actively exploring NFTs and blockchain technology in games.
The patent, filed last year and made public this month, is called “Tracking unique in-game digital assets using tokens on a distributed ledger” (via Gamesual).
What’s behind?
It is a system for tracking the creation, use, modification and transfer of digital assets in a game.
“People often find it meaningful to own or use unique physical objects associated with notable characters or activities,” he says.
“For example, fans of baseball player Babe Ruth, or baseball in general, often seek to acquire and possess balls signed by Ruth, balls hit by Ruth in a major baseball game, trading cards at the effigy of Ruth, etc.”
The system could be used to verify the authenticity of digital assets used by well-known actors or popular content creators that the actors in turn wish to buy, sell or rent.
“Multiplayer players are gaining popularity in games or tournaments that are often broadcast live or otherwise broadcast to large audiences,” he said. “Similarly, Popular Players are often broadcast live or streamed from single or multiplayer video games, such as when players perform or attempt speedruns, in-game challenges, multiplayer matches, or other performance activities. Game.”
“Certain particularly talented or charismatic players can develop a large following, as can fans of famous athletes, singers, actors or other celebrities.”
“In some video games, a player may use digital items during gameplay. These digital items may include, for example, characters, costumes, or specific items. In traditional video games, multiple versions of the same game item exist in the same copy of the video game and/or in different copies of the video game.”
“Traditionally, these different versions of the same game element are fungible because they are indistinguishable from each other. For example, even if a particular game element is rarely available in the video game, it is represented in the game video in the form of a sequence of code that is consistent with representations of other instances of the same game element in the same video game and/or in other copies of the same video game. traditional, no digital asset is different from other copies of the same video game item.”
“Therefore, in traditional video games, there is no way to know, track, or authenticate the history of a specific game item. For example, in traditional video games, there is no has no way of identifying a specific instance of a game item that a famous player of the video game used to win a famous tournament that stands out from other copies of the game item.”
It remains to be seen how much further action PlayStation wants to take in this regard. Recently, a new rewards program was launched with PlayStation Stars, where players can also earn digital rewards through various activities.
However, Sony was quick to point out that these were not NFTs. But will it remain so in the future?