Sony is still exploring gaming use cases for non-fungible tokens, as suggested by a newly granted patent application describing a cross-platform framework for creating and managing NFTs, which includes tying them to certain in-game achievements. The company's interest in this technology has been on a steady rise in recent times, as illustrated by both its patent track record and a controversial PlayStation survey asking gamers about NFTs this past summer.
NFTs and other applications of digital ledgers remain a polarizing topic in gaming, with opinions among most major distributors ranging from skepticism expressed by Xbox CEO Phil Spencer to a near-zero-tolerance policy for blockchain games Valve's Steam has been enforcing since 2021. Even the Epic Games Store vowed to swiftly ban shady blockchain games, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the segment, coming from the largest PC gaming marketplace that currently allows them. Sony's approach to such technologies—and NFTs, in particular—remains subdued; the company hasn't yet made serious strides toward commercialization, but its recent R&D activity reveals a keen interest in the niche.
The latest example illustrating that trend comes in the form of a newly granted Sony patent describing an NFT framework for issuing, managing, and monetizing digital assets across games, platforms, and accounts. The application, filed in September 2022, envisions a system that ties NFTs to certain in-game achievements, awarding unique assets to players who manage to perform feats like discovering a hidden item or being the first person in the world to beat a particular boss. The latter reward type is kind of a leitmotif of the entire patent, with most of its example applications envisioning ways to use NFTs for acknowledging players or group thereof who are the first to accomplish something.
The filing also mentions support for subsequent sales of NFTs to other players via a digital ledger-powered marketplace with publicly listed prices. That part of the concept is arguably not the company's boldest blockchain monetization blueprint to date, given another recently surfaced patent suggesting Sony wants to rent NFTs to players and stream spectators.
Naturally, the sole existence of this intellectual property does not guarantee it will ever see the light of day. Sony Interactive Entertainment, the Japanese conglomerate's branch responsible for gaming-related R&D, averages close to a thousand patent applications annually. According to the USPTO database, the company has already been awarded over 170 patents in Q1 2023 alone.
As tends to be the case with such filings from all major tech giants, many—if not most—of those applications are defensive in nature, submitted primarily so that its rivals don't beat it to the punch, thus keeping the company's future innovation options as wide and royalty-free as possible. Be that as it may, this latest development is yet another confirmation of Sony's continued interest in both NFTs and blockchain technology, in general.