The Epic Games Store, the popular digital distribution platform for video games operated by Fortnite and Unreal Tournament developer Epic Games, has reversed its stringent prohibition on blockchain-powered games that received “Adults Only” (AO) ratings from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).
Previously, Epic Games Store had banned all AO-rated titles, as the AO label signifies games with excessive violence, sexual content, or other mature themes that retailers often refuse to sell. However, Epic has now created an exception for blockchain games that were slapped with AO ratings solely due to their integration of blockchain or NFT technology, not because of inappropriate content.
According to updated guidelines on their content policies page, the Epic Games marketplace will now permit products to be sold if they received an AO rating only because they incorporate blockchain or NFTs into their design or gameplay. An Epic Games spokesperson confirmed the change to The Verge, acknowledging some blockchain games have faced AO ratings unfairly just for leveraging the emerging technology.
As a result of Epic’s new openness to blockchain gaming, the platform has reinstated titles like Gods Unchained, a popular blockchain-based digital card game, and Striker Manager 3 which lets players manage a soccer team through NFT players representing unique assets stored on the blockchain. These games and more had previously been removed from the Epic Games Store due to their ESRB’s AO ratings which prompts many digital retailers to prohibit them entirely given the stigma around Adults Only classified games.
Other major gaming marketplaces like Steam also continue to disallow blockchain games more broadly, as developers say Steam prohibits items that have “real-world value” which most blockchain assets possess. But Epic appears to recognize that blockchain games need not only to include inappropriate content simply through their use of groundbreaking technology.
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