Server Owners in Minecraft Can ‘Charge’ You With Worldcoin Now

Popular sandbox-style game Minecraft is bringing Worldcoin (WLD), an iris biometric cryptocurrency, to their ecosystem. The game’s publisher Microsoft and developer Mojang Studios have agreed on the decision. Previously, the game has clarified in its content guidelines to exclude assets associated with blockchain technology including non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Minecraft Has Stayed Clear of Blockchain in The Past

According to the news, Minecraft server owners can restrict access to their digital lands to players having World ID, a system to hand people with a proof of them being authentic humans. Their website claims to have 2.7 Million users on their ecosystem from 120 countries globally. Nearly 250K users have onboarded the platform in a week at the time of writing.

Worldcoin launched its beta version in July 2023 with a goal to eliminate bots and digital identities hovering over the internet. Their technology uses Orbs, a chromatic sphere used to scan human iris to create a World ID. The company claims that its distribution mechanism is similar to universal basic income (UBI), a concept proposing a fixed income be given to people unconditionally.

The project is yet to be launched formally in the United States and some other nations. The reasons are privacy concerns and potential fraudulent activities taking place using its native cryptocurrency. To this, Worldcoin co-founder Sam Altman told the British newspaper Financial Times that, “When we started thinking about this, we didn’t think it would end up as ‘world minus the US coin’ and here we are.”

Last year, Minecraft and Mojang Studios clarified their position on NFTs and blockchain in an official announcement. They asserted that “integrations of NFTs with Minecraft are generally not something we will support or allow.” The announcement emphasized that NFTs “can create models of scarcity and exclusion that conflict with our Guidelines and the spirit of Minecraft.”

To create a safe and inclusive environment, the game refrained from integration of blockchain technology. Furthermore, they believe some third-party NFTs may not be reliable. Fraudulent activities associated with non-fungible tokens have become common, which may cost users their hard-earned money.

From the ranks of traditional gamers to professionals, several from the gaming community have expressed their disapproval of blockchain and NFTs. Game distribution service Steam is among them and refrains any game having to do anything with blockchain on the platform.

Traditional gamers oppose it because they feel it may take away the entertainment value from mainstream games. That is also a reason companies take careful steps to lay down a path for their gaming endeavors. Backlash from a community can lead to loss of revenue as well as reputation.

Gaming website Charlie INTEL reports that Minecraft currently holds a user base of nearly 166 Million monthly active users (MAU). As of now, the game has not received any reaction from the community that they call a backlash.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.