While tokenized assets are meant to build more enriched, immersive experiences, Google Play said it is also emphasizing the importance of maintaining user trust. So, we’ve spoken with developers about responsibly supporting those opportunities while continuing to provide a safe, transparent, and trusted experience for everyone,” Mills said.

“Like with any emerging technology, we must balance innovation with our responsibility to protect users.

Google pointed to “creative in-app experiences” that innovations can deliver. Now, many Web3 game companies have opted to highlight other benefits, such as fun game play, player ownership and possible voting rights. With the crypto winter, the NFT price crash and other scams, the notion of making a lot of money as an NFT speculator has become a lot less attractive in recent months. This will obviously force developers to downplay the “play-to-earn” game descriptions that were popular starting in 2021 when the NFT boom exploded and money poured into blockchain games. Additionally, developers may not promote or glamorize any potential earnings from playing or trading activities. If an app or game sells or enables users to earn tokenized digital assets, developers must declare this clearly. The Web2 and Web3 requirements ensure that platform owners such as Google Play can still collect their 30% fee on transactions.Īs part of the new policy, developers must be transparent with users about tokenized digital assets, Mills said. Mythical Games said its NFL Rivals Web2/Web3 game hit nearly a million downloads in June. In the past, blockchain game companies had to hope for the best distributing their games on the open web - which presented them with considerable distribution problems as the app stores are where the players are. With this change, Google Play will expose blockchain games to the masses. While NFT games have had safe harbor on the Epic Games Store, others such as Apple, Google and Steam have prevented developers from selling such games, unless they had a very big Web2 component, meaning players could play a free-to-play game and pay for it with a credit card rather than cryptocurrency.

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