Sony has applied for a patent on the use, transfer and sale of NFT
A new Sony Interactive Entertainment patent filing discovered by Segment Next indicates that the company is working on implementing a stronger framework for NFTs in video games and consoles. While the popularity of NFTs has declined significantly in recent years, hastened by the collapse of the cryptocurrency market, it appears that Sony is not completely done with the blockchain-based technology.
The company’s recently published patent is titled ‘NFT Framework For Transferring And Using Digital Assets Between Game Platforms’ and explores the potential for NFTs to play with and transfer between video games, with players reaping the benefits across multiple games.
“Current systems are technologically insufficient for the owner to use the asset across different games and platforms,” the patent states. “Therefore, the functionality of the game can be improved by enabling players and/or spectators to exclusively use the asset and possibly transfer the rights to others via NFT.”
Although the technology is not available yet, Sony has proposed a system where NFTs can be used to provide specific benefits to select players.
For example, it suggests that a player who is the “first” to beat a certain boss in a game could be rewarded with a special NFT that gives a unique weapon, or some other reward. Given complications such as the fact that games press and influencers often get early access to titles, it’s unclear how this would be fair – but Sony seems enthusiastic about this application regardless.
Read: Ubisoft CEO claims NFT launches were simply ‘research’
The patent further enthuses about the potential for ‘a certain level, score and/or point accumulation in a particular
“The NFT can then be transferred to someone else, who can then resume play where the transferor left off under the NFT, so that the transferee starts playing at the same level, with the same score and/or with the same points collection as the transferor,” the patent states.
The inherent benefit of having another player complete these NFT-laden game segments isn’t lingering on—nor is the exact reason people play games: for fun. Porting your gameplay, or skipping parts of games to get an intangible digital reward, feels at odds with the joy of gaming.
At this stage, it is unclear how these NFTs will be meaningfully implemented. The bubble of enthusiasm for this technology has already burst, and the benefits outlined here are not enticing enough to argue for the potential loss of goodwill that their inclusion might entail. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what Sony has in store for NFTs.
