According to Google’s group product manager Joseph Mills, the company has amended its mobile software marketplace policy to permit application developers to incorporate digital assets like NFTs into their games through its Play app store.
Mills said that as part of the policy amendment, apps must be “transparent with users about tokenized digital assets” and that developers aren’t allowed to “promote or glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities.”
Apps that do not adhere to the Real-Money Gambling, Games, and Contests policy of Google Play or do not meet the eligibility conditions are also prohibited from accepting payment for chances to win prizes, including NFTs.
“This includes, but is not limited to, offering mechanisms to receive randomized blockchain-based items from a purchase, such as ‘loot boxes,'” Mills added.
Due to those restrictions, some ventures in the area might be prevented from misleading NFT novices into thinking that purchasing these tokenized assets will lead to enormous profits.
According to Mills, this new move will also enable Google Play apps and games to reimagine “traditional games with user-owned content to boost user loyalty through unique NFT rewards.”
As a small number of developers are testing out the new policy ahead of its widespread distribution to all developers on Google Play later this year, the company thinks customers will start seeing in-app and gaming experiences later this summer.
Reddit, which has gained popularity for its NFT avatars and cryptocurrency wallets, teamed up with Google to assist change their policy, according to a blog post by Matt Williamson, senior technical manager at the social news site.
Google Play intends to collaborate with business partners in the future to enhance its support for blockchain-based applications, including secondary marketplaces.
Apple’s software Store, one of the other top software shops, is stable while Google is revising its policies. Apple has often adopted a cautious approach to the ecosystem of digital assets by adding extra fees to NFT sales, something that the majority of NFT developers would not agree to.
Apple announced in October that apps could list, mint, transfer, and allow users to examine their own existing NFTs. However, their policies preclude NFT ownership from gaining access to any additional app features. Additionally, although applications permit users to browse other collections, they are not permitted to display external links, buttons, or calls to action for NFT purchases. According to Apple’s official policies, users can only buy NFTs using the company’s in-app payment mechanism.
In the future, Apple may be able to adjust its policies or introduce new ones in order to compete with Google and advance in the blockchain-based world. Alternatively, the firm may decide to say “f*** it” and hand over control to Google. Only time will tell.
