Sony Files Patent for NFTs to Allow Transfers Between Games and Consoles

Entertainment and gaming console giant Sony Interactive Entertainment has filed for a patent that would make non-fungible tokens (NFT) transferable between different games and consoles.

The patent, originally filed last week, would allow players of Sony products such as its flagship PlayStation to have an interoperable Web3 gameplay experience. Gamers would be allowed to transfer in-game assets between devices such as virtual reality (VR) headsets, tablets, computers and smartphones. The patent application also noted that “In some examples, the NFT can be used cross-generationally (e.g., from PS4 to PS5).”

The application also goes into detail around how NFTs would work for achievements and tournaments, noting “In some example embodiments, the task may include a victory in an esports tournament and the digital asset may be usable via the NFT by the first end-user entity across plural different computer simulations.”

Sony also specified in the patent that the framework aims to be interoperable between products outside the Sony ecosystem, such as the Xbox or a "cloud-based video game," making assets fully transferable and usable between different gaming ecosystems.

It also outlines a function to prevent gamers from repeating tasks to earn the same NFTs with different products or games, noting the ability to prevent “performance of the task again in other instances of the computer simulation that are executed, and/or declining to provide additional NFTs for subsequent additional performances of the task.”

Sony has been recently making moves to grow its presence in the Web3 space, forging partnerships and testing early blockchain-based products. In November, the company released motion-tracking wearables, allowing gamers to control their avatars with their bodies in real time. In February, its internet provider division, Sony Network Communications, teamed up with blockchain network Astar to create an incubation program for companies focused on building NFTs and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) with real-world utility.

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