A recently released patent application from PlayStation maker Sony details the concept of a “super fungible token” for gaming that could be stored on a distributed ledger and transferred between players.
Many gamers have had the experience of getting hooked on a video game, spending a lot of money on in-game skins or battle passes, and eventually getting sick of the game. When this happens in a traditional “Web2” game, the player must accept the money spent on in-game assets as a sunk cost and move on. Typically, those assets cannot be sold.
But blockchain gaming is changing all that, and a recent patent application for super fungible tokens, filed by Sony in 2022 but released to the public last week, suggests that the tech giants may want to be part of the change. do.
that much Patent The application outlines a process for tracking a set of game assets associated with a player on an “electronic device” and generating metadata based on those assets. The metadata is then used to create a super fungible token, which is essentially a bundle of various NFTs. Here, tokens are created by storing corresponding metadata in a distributed ledger that is “related to the gaming application.”
This application suggests that Sony is considering allowing NFTs in its games. The patent includes the term “distributed ledger,” also called blockchain, but does not specify whether it is a private or public ledger. Sony states that the distributed ledger in question will be “connected to gaming applications,” which suggests Sony may be planning to launch its own chain for such efforts.
Either way, whether Sony launches NFTs on a public blockchain like Ethereum or Solana, or a private chain of its own creation, the gaming giant’s adoption of NFTs is a huge step forward for blockchain enthusiasts. This will be
In fact, super fungible tokens are essentially bundles of unique in-game assets such as skins, weapons, vehicles, etc. tokenized as NFTs that can be used within a video game. If Sony wants to use this patent, it means that one of the world’s largest gaming companies is potentially interested in allowing players to own their own in-game assets.
“Potentially,” because ultimately it will be up to Sony how much financialization it will allow. If Sony decides to pursue this framework on a private chain it controls, the gaming giant could impose all kinds of restrictions. However, there is no indication yet that Sony is actually planning to release this feature any time soon.
decryption‘s GG reached out to PlayStation for comment but did not immediately hear back.
This is not the first time Sony has filed a lawsuit. Patents related to NFT use In PlayStation games. Sony’s previous patent filings focused on giving players the ability to own in-game assets and transfer them from one game to another.
However, in the same filing, Sony claimed that currently available gaming consoles are “technically inadequate for owners to use the assets across a variety of games and/or platforms.” This means there’s still some time until consoles come out with the hardware needed to handle an open NFT ecosystem.
Editor: Andrew Hayward
