New documents have revealed that Sony, the global entertainment giant, applied for a patent in 2021 for a system used for tracking digital assets in video games using blockchain, particularly NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). The patent was released to the public on November 10, 2022.
Sony, a Japan-based multinational technology company popular for its Playstation gaming consoles, attributes their move to the increasing popularity of gaming in the NFT world, and the desire by players to own unique items associated with their favorite activities, celebrities, and e-sports tournament winners.
“In traditional video games, there is no way to differentiate a specific instance of an in-game item that a famous player of the video game used to win a famous tournament from any other instance of the in-game item,” says Sony.
The application shows that Sony intends to use the blockchain, which is a ledger of public records, to record digital media assets, video clips, and gameplay, and have a unique token for each digital item with metadata and a unique identifier to help identify the properties of the digital asset.
Although the application is only for a patent, it indicates that Sony has an interest in joining the growing NFT gaming field. CoinGecko data shows that the top NFT games, also known as Play2Earn games, include Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, Alien Worlds, and STEPN.
“Changes to properties of the digital asset, such as ownership, visual appearance, or metadata, can be identified in a request to update the history,” writes Sony. “A new block can be generated for, and appended to, the distributed ledger identifying the changes to the history of the digital asset.”
Although it is not the first company to use blockchain technology, Sony is one of the top media and entertainment companies to come up with plans for integrating NFTs and the blockchain into its games.
The patent will not be the first attempt by Sony to enter the NFT space. In May this year, the company partnered with Theta Labs to create a collection of 3D NFTs. You can view the limited-edition NFT collection on Spatial Reality Display, the Sony tablet-style device.
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are cryptographically unique tokens connected to digital and physical content, acting as proof of ownership for assets such as artwork, memorabilia, music, and video game items. An NFT cannot be reproduced or duplicated, and this makes them suitable for representing the ownership of assets.
NFTs can be used to represent the ownership of both digital and real-world assets. Most Play2Earn games sell avatars in the form of NFTs, and users need to buy the avatars to qualify to play the game. They can also trade the avatars by selling them to other players.
