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Sony Introduces Cross-System NFT Trading Framework

Hands in the air for gamers as Sony publishes a new web 3.0 framework that allows NFT exchange cross-platform.

Moonly

• 2 min read
Hand holding a game pad

Hands in the air for gamers as Sony, the official maker of the PlayStation gaming console, introduces a new web 3.0 framework that allows players to buy and sell digital assets (NFTs) across different gaming platforms.

According to a patent filed by Sony in September 2022 and published on March 16, 2023, the new framework will allow users to send gems, weapons, and other in-game assets collected on their game platform to players on other platforms. Hence, if you've acquired a new gun or upgraded your weapon in Apex Legends on PlayStation 5, for instance, you can now share or sell that to a friend playing a similar game on Xbox Series X using Sony's new whip.

In citing the reason behind this move, a statement extracted from Sony's patent summary says:

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"As recognized herein, in some applications such as computer/video games, an NFT might represent the artwork or an asset in the game (such as a character or weapon or other game assets), but current systems are technologically inadequate for the owner to use the asset across different games and/or platforms. Accordingly, as further recognized herein, the functionality of the game may be enhanced by enabling gamers and/or spectators to exclusively use the asset and possibly transfer its rights to others via NFT."

Besides selling in-game collectibles, Sony also says players can sell off their levels or scores to other players regardless of their platforms. The recipient of the sold level can then continue from where the seller left off. In another usage example, Sony also says players who won a boss in a game can transfer or sell and use the hunter-damaging weapon in another game type (cross-game and cross-platform).

Interestingly, Sony also says in-game NFT transfer can be trans-generational; "In some examples, the NFT can be used cross-generationally (e.g., from PS4 to PS5)."

The possibilities seem endless, and we all look forward to trying out this new feature when it finally unrolls.

However, Sony hasn't released an official statement about implementing the initiative. This is still only a published patent and doesn't imply implementation. So you might not expect such functionalities in gaming yet.

Although Sony had earlier implemented a digital collectible rewards system for players in September 2022, according to the PlayStation blog, it doesn't back the innate picture of NFTs as rewards aren't sellable.