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

Enlarge / While some see NFT games like Axie Infinity as the future of gaming, the IGDA is increasingly worried about the ethical issues inherent to the space.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), a professional group of thousands of game makers from around the world, is increasingly concerned that the "ethical issues" surrounding the use of non-fungible tokens in gaming represents a "socio-political explosion waiting to happen." That's according to Dr. Jakin Vela, the founder of social justice-focused gaming nonprofit Games for Me. Vela was recently named interim director of the IGDA.

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 IGDA's Climate Special Interest Group also compiled a growing list of arguments against NFTs in gaming. That document notes that gaming communities and game developers are largely uninterested in the technology, with 70 percent of game makers saying in a recent survey that they have no interest in using NFTs in their upcoming projects.

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