By Gabriel Joyce
Epic Games Chief confesses gaming giant Fortnite may utilize blockchain, rule out Fortnite using crypto, or offer NFT trading.
Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney revealed in a recent X post that the Battle Royale gaming platform Fortnite could integrate blockchain in the future. The Epic Games founder assured the exclusion of crypto in the game despite the “Perhaps someday” response to Game Fund Partners co-founder Jonah Blake, who enquired if Epic will use blockchain in Fortnite.
Blockchain Use Possible in Fortnite
The Epic head acknowledged the exclusion of crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFT), which contrasts the thoughts of the majority. Sweeney reiterated the plain declaration that Fortnite will not adopt crypto and NFT trading.
The Epic Games CEO affirmed interest in the underlying idea of blockchain integration, terming it awesome. Particularly, Sweeney considers blockchain usage as the decentralized solution towards the distributed transactional evolution of the simulation state primarily computed among multiple participants within the open ecosystem.
Sweeney’s description of blockchain simply appears to imply its usage as a database alternative. Adopting this concept would mirror the approach evident within the crypto role-playing game Pirate Nation. The game targets spreading transactions across various blockchains, similar to how a traditional game could leverage multiple databases to process user information.
Sweeney had earlier disclosed in an interview hosted by author Matthew Ball that money is the least exciting aspect of applying blockchains. The gaming executive added that blockchains harbor a myriad of uses that could play out in the future. He said that systems should consider the inclusion of zero-knowledge proofs alongside the cryptographic consensus protocols as key components.
Open Metaverse in Fortnite
Sweeney’s perspective of blockchain aligns with his vocal support of the open metaverse. The concept upholds decentralization and interoperability ideas to recreate digital experiences often identified as the metaverse worlds. The Epic head indicated back in 2021 that no entity could own the metaverse coincidentally in a period when Facebook rebranded to Meta.
Despite holding such belief, Sweeney called to pump breaks on the emerging fantasy, indicating that an open metaverse implies the capability to dump assets of one game into another freely. The Epic boss revealed in the Ball interview the existing dream of interoperability emerging as the idea that one could drag and drop assets earned in one game into another.
Sweeney considers the interoperability to be quite reasonably perceived as threatening and insulting to individuals who devote their lives to crafting AAA games. Moreover, Epic’s head considers its viability technically ridiculous.
Sweeney clarified that his focus, in reality, was on how developers could build an open metaverse. Such should enable interoperability across various games to create a realistic sense. He added that the future of the metaverse rests upon building on the open protocols, standards, and interoperability forms.
The pursuit of open protocols to guarantee interoperability is evident through groups such as the Metaverse Standards Forum. Recently, Epic Games revealed engagement with the entity to onboard technical standards across the sector. Doing so is considered a channel to enable interoperability.
With the renewed focus on tech, Sweeney added that blockchain’s popularity and notoriety damaged the technology’s long-term reputation. However, the executive attributes such experience as aided by the cryptocurrency to fuel the popularity.
Sweeney decries that blockchain suffered rushed adoption as a financial instrument. The executive considers a few more decades for it to nurture within the pure nerd community ahead of its adoption as a financial instrument.
Sweeney considers cryptocurrency to be primarily undermined by speculative actions, scam attacks, and regulatory uncertainty. Nonetheless, the Epic Games chief believes the technology will triumph.
Sweeney concluded the interview with a bullish prediction of blockchain technology that the world will realize the right side. Nevertheless, he cautioned the buyers since the present appears a Wild West.
Editorial credit: DANIEL CONSTANTE / Shutterstock.com
