- A 29-strong campaign group has called for Valve to allow Web 3.0 games back onto Steam
- A recent rule change banned blockchain games from the platform with no official announcement
- The group claims that Web 3.0 games are the future and that banning them is counterproductive
A collection of blockchain gaming companies and a digital campaign group has written an open letter to Valve, owners of the Steam PC gaming platform, to ask it to reconsider its ban on blockchain based games. Steam quietly amended its list of games that were not allowed on its platform last week to add blockchain based games and games that issued cryptocurrencies, scuppering the development plans of some video game developers. The collective, which includes digital freedom campaigners Fight for the Future, The Blockchain Game Alliance, and blockchain gaming company Enjin states that Web 3.0 games could make games “more decentralized, democratic, interactive, player focused systems” and called on Steam to reverse its ban.
Web 3.0 Can Improve Gaming, Say Campaigners
The campaign, headed by Fight for the Future, a group that has been very vocal about preserving net neutrality, claimed in its open letter to Valve that Web 3.0 games represented the future of gaming and highlighted the benefits to users that could stem from their growth:
Games that utilize blockchain technology and web3 token-based technologies like DAOs and NFTs can positively enhance the user experience of games, and create new economic opportunities for users and creators. Tokens, in particular, open up vast possibilities for users to interact, collaborate, and create tangible digital worlds and items that were previously impossible. These enhancements make games more decentralized, democratic, interactive, player focused systems.
The group also noted that Valve is “recognized for their willingness to experiment and innovate, not only with their games, but with the Steam platform itself” and that as “pioneers for changing how gamers sell and trade digital game items” they should be more open to what is clearly the next generation in gaming.
Valve Yet to Acknowledge Ban
The letter, which is backed by 26 blockchain game companies as well as Enjin, Fight for Freedom, and the Blockchain Game Alliance, brings more attention to the decision from Valve to ban Web 3.0 games from its platform, something it is yet to formally acknowledge.
Whether there are legal reasons behind the ban is unclear, but it could be that Valve doesn’t want to run the risk of implicating itself as an issuer of securities.
