PlayStation creator Sony has revealed a new NFT-related patent which shows the tech giant’s intentions to create a standardised digital infrastructure to allow gamers to own and transfer digital NFT assets across various video game platforms.
“The standardised format may be readable to insert the digital asset in different computer simulations that may include different video games of different titles,” the patent reads. “Additionally, or alternatively, […] readable via different video game platforms such as, for example, PlayStation and Xbox.”
Sony has also proposed that these assets could include items from in-game skins, artwork, avatars, weapons, or even “video game skills.” The patent went on to propose that they could be “connected over a network” from PlayStation to other consoles and via VR and AR headsets, smart TVs, and mobile devices.
Leveraging the NFT space
In late 2022, Sony says it has over 110 million PlayStation Network users including PS5 online-connected players as well as those on older consoles and other handheld devices.
However, this new application isn’t the company’s first move towards leveraging NFTs as it has previously revealed in a patent in November 2022 how it aims to utilise the growing esports section with various in-game digital collectables since 2021.
Sony’s newest patent shows that contemporary gaming consoles are “technologically inadequate for the owner to use the asset across different games and/or platforms.”
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.