Valve has informed developers that it will no longer allow games based on blockchain technology that issue or allow the exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on Steam.
This morning the company contacted the developers as SpacePirate Games, the team behind Rust age to inform you of the policy change, which is now officially listed in Valve's Rules and Guidelines for Game Developers. SpacePirate chose to delete Rust age from Steam rather than deleting its cryptocurrency assets, as the whole rationale behind Rust age is to allow players to obtain NFT assets by solving puzzles.
This is good news for developers concerned so much about the growing impact of cryptocurrencies on climate change (some currencies can emit more CO2 than small nations), and for developers concerned about the numerous crypto scams that have cost buyers thousands and sometimes millions of dollars.
Valve's interest in banning crypto products may have less to do with the environment and more to do with its continued dislike for games that treat digital items as real-world assets. In 2019, it altered the way Counter-strike loot works for against money laundering. At that time, players could win loot boxes to play for free Counter-strike, but you could only open them by buying (or exchanging) Valve keys for real money.
By the time the key system was shut down, Valve stated that "almost all key purchases that end up being traded or sold on the market are believed to have originated from fraud."
We reached out to Valve to comment on this policy change and will update our story if they respond.
