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In an unexpected turn of events, the official Fortnite merchandise store recently began to accept Monero (XMR) purchases through crypto-friendly payment service GloBee. That begs the million-dollar question — Is Epic Games, the creator of the aforementioned video game, enamored with cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, blockchain technologies, and the like?
A recent tweet from a member of Epic’s top brass indicates that yes, there are a handful of crypto enthusiasts at the development studio.
Fortnite Founder Bullish On Blockchain Technology
Tim Sweeney, the world-renowned computer engineer and founder of Fortnite creator Epic Games, recently came out in support of the “decentralized computing tech underlying cryptocurrency.” For the buzzword uninitiated, he means blockchain. Touching on the Fortnite’s “brief foray” into cryptocurrencies via its store, the American developer noted that the acceptance of Monero was “accidental,” as somewhere along the way one of the firm’s partners activated support for the privacy asset.
Yet, he went on to explain that “many of us at Epic (implying that he’s included),” are big fans of blockchain technologies. And while Epic employees are fans, Sweeney noted that work needs to be done on “volatility and fraud-proofing” before bringing the innovation to the public, especially to the younger demographic who frequent Fortnite. He added that in spite of the rumors, Epic doesn’t currently have any official crypto-centric partners, nor plans for a solid foray into this industry.
However, the Unreal Engine programmer noted that Epic continues to read “lots of papers” and talk to “smart people” regarding the subject, specifically in “anticipation of an eventual intercept.”
Related Reading: Ethereum Developer ConsenSys Partners With AMD To Bolster Blockchain Industry
Video Games And Crypto: They Key To Adoption?
Sweeney’s innocuous message could be painting an optimistic picture, as some believe that a crossover between the gaming world and cryptocurrencies could, ironically enough, be a game-changer.
Although some are skeptical of the role that video games play in society, a multitude of crypto enthusiasts has claimed that this form of entertainment is the key to global adoption, however silly that may sound. Many forward-thinkers in this budding sector have drawn attention to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which if integrated correctly, can act as unique, secure, tradable items for games. With the rise of in-game items, like skins in League of Legends and Overwatch, ledger-based NFTs could quickly garner traction, especially as blockchain development continues to mount.
But with the rise of in-game currencies, like Fortnite’s very own V-Bucks, simple fungible crypto assets for microtransactions, which may be situated on a platform like Ethereum, could also perform well. And eventually, video game-related tokens could enter the broader crypto ecosystem, allowing consumers, whether young or otherwise, to transact their gaming currencies for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
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