Game dev group says addressing NFT gaming’s “ethical issues” is a “priority”

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), a professional group of thousands of game makers from around the world, is increasingly concerned about the ethical issues surrounding the use of non-fungible token in gaming. The IGDA recently named an interim director.

In an interview with Ars, Vela expanded on the IGDA's "call to action" statement on NFTs in gaming from last July. That statement was critical of the technology and focused on the "energy inefficient methods" inherent to the proof-of-work blockchains that dominate the cryptocurrency and NFT space. "NFTs should never be used [by game developers] when a simple and far less costly database table can be managed to provide the same information and benefits," the group said.

The Climate Special Interest Group compiled arguments against NFTs in gaming. 70 percent of game makers said in a recent survey that they have no interest in using NFTs in their upcoming projects, according to a document.

Taking a “stronger stance”

Addressing the increasing levels of hype and investment around NFT gaming is still one of the priorities of the IGDA. There are a lot of ethical issues that come with NFTs, so the organization is revising its stance to be a little stronger.

There is a prevalence of NFT-based pyramid schemes where new money from later players is required to increase the value of highly speculative NFT purchases from early players. See this report from Naavik for more information on how games need a constantly growing player base to power their economy.

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Beyond that kind of economic structure, though, Vela said "there's also the ethical issues of a have/have-not creation" in NFT gaming economies, where "power differentials can play a key component." There's a major risk, Vela said, that NFT-based games could divided players into those "who maybe use it as a means for employment" and "others [who] can just as easily take advantage. It's a very socio-political explosion waiting to happen, I think."

Some people think that the marketplace is a libertarian paradise free from government regulations, but that is a major vulnerability for gaming. He said that players who try to earn money through NFT gaming face a situation where their resources and investment in their employment activities are reliant on this unregulated, really uncertain future environment.

The IGDA previously said that developers that absolutely can't use a centralized database for their project should at least "use proof of stake for cross-ecosystem NFTs." Those systems, which let users stake their cryptocurrency to help validate new transactions, "are far more energy-efficient than proof of work (PoW) algorithms and should be preferred whenever possible," the IGDA wrote in July.

He told Ars that the organization's thinking is changing even though it is a compromise position.

The group is having recurring meetings to ensure that we understand all aspects of the statement. But why? I am buying a receipt. It would be easier to understand if things were simplified for people.