Rockstar Bans Crypto and NFTs from GTA Online Roleplaying Servers

grand theft auto online players are prohibited from using the game’s role-playing servers for ‘commercial exploitation’, according to news guidelines set up by developers Rockstar, which includes the sale of loot boxes, virtual currencies, corporate sponsorships and everything related to cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Sorry, crypto brothers. Ban on crypto and NFTs echoes that of Mojang statement of this summer sabotaging players who wanted to incorporate controversial technologies into Minecraft.

Ars-Technica report that the new guidelines issued by Rockstar were in response to an RP server created in September by rapper and GTA Online player Lil Durk. Called The Trenches, this community advertised integration with brands and an NFT drop for access to server-exclusive items. Rockstar’s statement came days before Trenches was ordered by the developer to shut down operations, and it was updated a few days later, but the timing may have been coincidental.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Trenches said they were working with Rockstar to find an “amicable solution”, but confirmed that they had been asked to cease operations by lawyers acting on behalf of Rockstar and the publisher Take-Two Interactive. It should be noted that the CEO of Take-Two said the company is a “great believerin NFTs and blockchain last November, so a little weird.

While Rockstar, Mojang and Valve have rejected technologies such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs and blockchain for now, other developers and publishers seem to like them more and more. Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda has spoken out in force in favour NFTs and blockchain in January, calling them the future of fun.

Publishers such as Sega are also sniffing around NFTs, recording the trademark for “Sega NFTs” earlier this year. As Alice Bee noted with No Man’s Sky however, players can sometimes find interesting uses for their own cryptocurrency in games.

GTA V is launched Steam and the Epic Games Store for £25/$30/€30, which includes access to GTA Online.