Minecraft

Worldcoin integrates with Shopify, Mercado Libre, Minecraft, Reddit and Telegram

Worldcoin released a new version of its World ID feature with multiple app integrations.

Worldcoin has launched a new version of its World ID feature, called “World ID 2.0″.

According to a Dec. 12 announcement, the new version is integrated with Shopify, Mercado Libre, Reddit and Telegram, allowing users to prove their humanness on these platforms.

The announcement stated that the new app integrations add to existing ones, including Discord, Talent Protocol, and Okta’s Auth0. The new version also allows app developers to choose between different levels of authentication, ranging from “lite” to “max.”

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Minecraft ban ‘hypocritical’ and NFTs are inclusive: Animoca’s Yat Siu

“They did not cite evidence, they didn’t even correctly point out what NFTs are, nor did they talk to NFT Worlds,” noted Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu.

Yat Siu, the co-founder of crypto/NFT venture fund giant Animoca Brands, labeled the recent Minecraft NFT ban as “hypocritical” and emphasized that nonfungible tokens (NFT) can be inclusive, despite arguments to the contrary.

As previously reported, Minecraft developers Mojang Studios announced a ban on all NFT integrations in the game on July 20. The firm stated that NFTs were against its values, as they foster price speculation, scarcity, exclusion and potential rug pulls.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Siu expressed his frustration at Mojang Studios given the context in which NFTs were being integrated with Minecraft before the ban.

Projects such as NFT Worlds were utilizing Minecraft’s open source servers to host a metaverse platform that had crypto and NFT ecosystems built around it. The project appeared to be relatively popular, given that it has generated more than $80 million worth of NFT trading volume and claims to have around 100,000 players.

The Animoca Brands co-founder noted that he found it hypocritical that Minecraft would exclude a small portion of the user base, considering that the company’s stated that it values “inclusion” and suggested NFT integrations in games drive exclusion.

“The general perspective is that this is hypocritical, NFTs have not hurt anyone at Minecraft, it’s very clearly a minority. This was not a decision of actual evidence of harm, this was a preference decision, purely based on an opinion.”

“They did not cite evidence, they didn’t even correctly point out what NFTs are, nor did they talk to NFT Worlds,” he added.

While Siu acknowledges many in the traditional gaming community want nothing to do with NFTs, generally out of fear of games becoming over-monetized and “even less fair.” In this instance, users had the choice to play in NFT-affiliated servers or not, and there were no NFT integrations forced on regular Minecraft users.

Siu stressed that excluding minority views means “you actually hurt the whole community, and you stifle its growth.”

Related: Epic Games ‘definitely won’t’ follow Minecraft NFT ban

In terms of NFTs being inclusive, Siu argues that NFT tech or the digital property itself doesn’t foster inclusion or exclusion, and instead, it’s all about how the tech is deployed to drive community value.

He noted that in the right contexts, NFTs in games or the Metaverse can offer users a redistribution of the platform’s economy and power. In Siu’s point of view, NFTs enable users to own a tokenized stake in their favorite platforms which can then be utilized how users see fit, as opposed to the Web2 model in which users are not offered ownership over their content and data.

“What NFTs do is redistribute the economics of the players who add value to the game which then also has the same effect of decentralizing and redistributing the power dynamics inside games. [Therefore] allowing for more freedoms and power to the community instead of just a community.”

“Property rights and freedoms are intertwined, the next natural evolution is digital property rights to either enhance or actually produce true digital freedom,” he added.

Minecraft ban ‘hypocritical’ and NFTs are inclusive — Animoca’s Yat Siu

“They did not cite evidence, they didn’t even correctly point out what NFTs are, nor did they talk to NFT Worlds,” noted Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu.

Yat Siu, the co-founder of crypto/NFT venture fund giant Animoca Brands, labeled the recent Minecraft NFT ban as “hypocritical” and emphasized that nonfungible tokens (NFT) can be inclusive, despite arguments to the contrary.

As previously reported, Minecraft developers Mojang Studios announced a ban on all NFT integrations in the game on Wednesday. The firm stated that NFTs were against its values, as they foster price speculation, scarcity, exclusion and potential rug pulls.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Siu expressed his frustration at Mojang Studios, given the context in which NFTs were being integrated with Minecraft before the ban.

Projects such as NFT Worlds were utilizing Minecraft’s open source servers to host a metaverse platform that had crypto and NFT ecosystems built around it. The project appeared to be relatively popular, given that it has generated more than $80 million worth of NFT trading volume and claims to have around 100,000 players.

The Animoca Brands co-founder noted that he found it hypocritical that Minecraft would exclude a small portion of the user base, considering that the company stated that it values “inclusion” and suggested NFT integrations in games drive exclusion:

“The general perspective is that this is hypocritical, NFTs have not hurt anyone at Minecraft, it’s very clearly a minority. This was not a decision of actual evidence of harm, this was a preference decision, purely based on an opinion.”

“They did not cite evidence, they didn’t even correctly point out what NFTs are, nor did they talk to NFT Worlds,” he added.

While Siu acknowledges many in the traditional gaming community want nothing to do with NFTs, generally out of fear of games becoming over-monetized and “even less fair.” In this instance, users had the choice to play in NFT-affiliated servers or not, and there were no NFT integrations forced on regular Minecraft users.

Siu stressed that excluding minority views means “you actually hurt the whole community, and you stifle its growth.”

Related: Epic Games ‘definitely won’t’ follow Minecraft NFT ban

In terms of NFTs being inclusive, Siu argues that NFT tech or the digital property itself doesn’t foster inclusion or exclusion, and instead, it’s all about how the tech is deployed to drive community value.

He noted that in the right contexts, NFTs in games or the Metaverse can offer users a redistribution of the platform’s economy and power. In Siu’s point of view, NFTs enable users to own a tokenized stake in their favorite platforms which can then be utilized how users see fit, as opposed to the Web2 model in which users are not offered ownership over their content and data:

“What NFTs do is redistribute the economics of the players who add value to the game which then also has the same effect of decentralizing and redistributing the power dynamics inside games. [Therefore] allowing for more freedoms and power to the community instead of just a community.”

“Property rights and freedoms are intertwined, the next natural evolution is digital property rights to either enhance or actually produce true digital freedom,” he added.

Epic Games ‘definitely won’t’ follow Minecraft NFT ban

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has said that the firm will not ban NFTs, as devs “should be free to decide how to build their games.”

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney says his firm “definitely won’t” follow Minecraft’s developers in banning non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

As previously reported, Minecraft developers Mojang Studios banned NFT integrations on July 20 as it believes the speculative aspect of NFTs, along with scarcity and risks of exclusion and scams supposedly associated with NFTs being against the game’s principles.

The move was seen as highly controversial in the NFT community, while it has been met with praise by the cohort of crypto-skeptic gamers.

Sweeney’s company is the creators of the widely successful battle royal game Fortnite, which is also seen as a Metaverse platform. While Epic Games isn’t necessarily pro-crypto or NFTs, the CEO said the firm isn’t looking to enforce any views on the subject on its users:

“Developers should be free to decide how to build their games, and you are free to decide whether to play them. I believe stores and operating system makers shouldn’t interfere by forcing their views onto others. We definitely won’t.”

In response to the post, Twitter user @Low5ive asked Sweeney Epic Games’ policy on prohibiting “hateful/discriminatory content” differs from this. In response, Sweeney suggested that Epic Games does make “editorial” judgements, but NFTs don’t currently fall under them.

“A store could choose to make no such judgments and host anything that’s legal, or choose to draw the line at mainstream acceptable norms as we do, or accept only games that conform to the owner’s personal beliefs,” he said.

The NFT ban by Mojang Studios has left one particular project dubbed “NFT Worlds” with a major problem to solve, given that it was built on one of Minecraft’s open source servers.

Related: Delphi Digital: How to get gamers to accept the integration of NFTs

The community driven play-to-earn (P2E) platform has an entire crypto and NFT ecosystem built around it, with its NFTs generating 51,000 Ether (ETH), or $80.8 million worth of trading volume to date. However, since the news dropped, the floor price of its NFTs has dropped from 3.33 ETH to 1.01 ETH at the time of writing, while its native token WRLD has plunged by 55% within that time frame.

After the Mojang announcement, the NFT Worlds team stated it is now “brainstorming solutions” on how to move forward. The team mentioned that it is working to get in contact with Minecraft to see if a possible solution can be found, otherwise a pivot to a “Minecraft-like game engine” or GameFi platform has been outlined as possible options.


Epic Games ‘definitely won’t’ follow Minecraft NFT ban

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has said that the firm will not ban NFTs, as devs “should be free to decide how to build their games.”

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney says his firm “definitely won’t” follow Minecraft developers in banning nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

As previously reported, Minecraft developers Mojang Studios banned NFT integrations on Wednesday, as it believes the speculative aspect of NFTs along with scarcity and risks of exclusion and scams supposedly associated with NFTs being against the game’s principles.

The move was seen as highly controversial in the NFT community, while it has been met with praise by the cohort of crypto-skeptic gamers.

Sweeney’s company is the creators of the widely successful battle royal game Fortnite, which is also seen as a Metaverse platform. While Epic Games isn’t necessarily pro-crypto or NFTs, the CEO said the firm isn’t looking to enforce any views on the subject on its users:

“Developers should be free to decide how to build their games, and you are free to decide whether to play them. I believe stores and operating system makers shouldn’t interfere by forcing their views onto others. We definitely won’t.”

In response to the post, Twitter user Low5ive asked Sweeney if Epic Games’ policy on prohibiting “hateful/discriminatory content” differs from this. In response, Sweeney suggested that Epic Games does make “editorial” judgments, but NFTs don’t currently fall under them.

“A store could choose to make no such judgments and host anything that’s legal, or choose to draw the line at mainstream acceptable norms as we do, or accept only games that conform to the owner’s personal beliefs,” he said.

The NFT ban by Mojang Studios has left one particular project dubbed NFT Worlds with a major problem to solve, given that it was built on one of Minecraft’s open source servers.

Related: Delphi Digital: How to get gamers to accept the integration of NFTs

The community-driven play-to-earn (P2E) platform has an entire crypto and NFT ecosystem built around it, with its NFTs generating 51,000 Ether (ETH), or $80.8 million worth of trading volume at the time of writing. Since the news dropped, however, the floor price of its NFTs has dropped from 3.33 ETH to 1.01 ETH at the time of writing, while its native token WRLD has plunged by 55% within that time frame.

After the Mojang announcement, the NFT Worlds team stated it is now “brainstorming solutions” on how to move forward. The team mentioned that it is working to get in contact with Minecraft to see if a possible solution can be found. Otherwise, a pivot to a “Minecraft-like game engine” or GameFi platform has been outlined as possible options.


Mojang Studios bans Minecraft NFT integrations

“NFTs can create models of scarcity and exclusion that conflict with our Guidelines and the spirit of Minecraft,” says the entity.

On Wednesday, Minecraft’s developer Mojang Studios said that it would be excluding the integration of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, alongside blockchain technology as a whole, in its popular namesake game. In explaining the decision, Mojang wrote:

“Like any digital file, NFTs can be copied, moved, or even deleted. Additionally, NFTs and blockchain have also been associated with price speculation. These uses of NFTs and other blockchain technologies create digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which does not align with Minecraft’s values of creative inclusion and playing together.”

As told by Mojang: “To ensure that Minecraft players have a safe and inclusive experience, blockchain technologies are not permitted to be integrated inside our client and server applications, nor may Minecraft in-game content such as worlds, skins, persona items, or other mods, be utilized by blockchain technology to create a scarce digital asset.”

The company also criticized the “speculative pricing” and “investment mentality” around NFTs that take away from the game experience and encourage profiteering to the detriment of long-term game playability. Furthermore, it pointed to rug-pulls surrounding certain third-party NFT integrations as well as NFT wash trading, or fraudulent price manipulation to support the ban.

Under the new rules, third-party blockchain technologies cannot be integrated with client and server applications within Minecraft. Nor may they be utilized to create NFTs associated with any in-game content, including worlds, skins, persona items or other mods. Although the changes do not affect most Minecraft gamers, it is likely to have significant consequences for a small subset of gamers who are also profiting from in-game NFTs. Third-party for-sale NFT collections digitizing Minecraft in-game assets may therefore be in violation of such terms and could potentially face legal consequences.