NFTs might be coming to PlayStation, assuming that Sony will do something with its recently-granted patents that were filed a year ago in good times. NFTs in gaming have been quite the contentious matter, receiving pushback from many mainstream gamers who question whether they are ‘fun’.
And yet Sony’s latest move provides more evidence that the gaming industry is recognising that read-write-own holds significance in our digital future. This week, Sony recently published news on their NFT patent.
On their application, Sony highlighted that “In traditional video games, there is no way to differentiate a specific instance of an in-game item that a famous player of the video game used to win a famous tournament from any other instance of the in-game item.”
The patent application was originally filed a year ago, in far better times of the industry. Sony plans to use blockchain to record digital assets, gameplay and video clips with tokens that will identify the asset for public view.
Sony appears to be eyeing off the ever-popular area of gaming — eSports, a prestigious industry with players very comfortable flashing cash, valued at a whopping US$145 billion.
NFT plans
According to the application, the patent is for “Tracking Unique In-Game Digital Assets Using Tokens on a Distributed Ledger.”
While memorabilia might be a part of this, it is a safe bet to presume that there will be other in-game assets that can be transferred across blockchains, creating value and engagement for users.
The patent application says, “The digital asset is created, and a distributed ledger tracking a history of the digital asset is created and stored across devices. A unique token for the digital asset can include a unique identifier and metadata identifying properties of the digital asset. Changes to properties of the digital asset, such as ownership, visual appearance, or metadata, can be identified in a request to update the history.”
While the patent is the latest news of Sony’s Web3 foray, it’s not the first. Last year Theta Labs collaborated on an NFT collection with the brand.
