Xbox CEO Phil Spencer is wary of play-to-earn cryptocurrency games

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer had already expressed reservations about play-to-earn video games in which gamers can garner virtual currency and NFTs by playing. Spencer has been questioned about digital money throughout a Bloomberg discussion, with informant Emily Chang mentioning that play-to-earn seems to be the latest rage these days. Spencer stated that he is wary of play-to-earn strategies in particular. It constructs human resources of gamers from which specific players can profit.

He said this has been happening for decades in the video game sector. There have always existed gold farmers, individuals who spend their energy in a video game conducting menial tasks to accumulate funds that they can then advertise to another rich gamer for actual cash so that individual does not have to invest hours doing it independently. However, video games are now beginning to incorporate this into the video game financial system.

Spencer also mentioned Mojang’s announcement last July that it will not allow NFTs in their game Minecraft. The Xbox production company believes that while NFTs are predatory in their present form, the technology involved might ultimately serve a greater purpose.

They made a few remarks in Minecraft about how they perceive NFTs inside this area because they observed people practicing predatory tasks in items they didn’t desire. When these technology solutions show up, Spencer believes it’s like a hammer searching for some nail. But he believes there may be some exciting features in the exact human usage of these innovations.

Not the first time he’s concerned

Spencer gained attention a year ago when he expressed his worries about NFTs, claiming that the technology was predatory in its present form. In an interview with Axios on November 2021, he stated that he believes there is a significant amount of rumors and exploration going on and that sure the invention he observes today did feel more exploitative than entertaining.

He asserted that he does not believe that any NFT video game is exploitative. He believes they’re on that path of people struggling to figure it out. He believes that any game they found on their shopfront that they deemed exploitative would prompt them to act immediately. They are not interested in that content type.

However, Spencer told Bloomberg that he believes there will be fewer platform unique video games in the long term and that Microsoft suggested the Activision agreement will be approved.