The future of NFTs in Pet Simulator X and Roblox
It was big news back in November 2021 when BIG Games, the creator of Pet Simulator X, announced the first-ever non-fungible token (NFT) release for the game. It was a drop of 12 special NFTs that would also grant owners an in-game pet. The NFTs were of the Huge Pegasus pet, which was created especially for this launch. So now you may be wondering, what is the future of NFT’s in Pet Simulator X or other games from Roblox?
How much are the NFTs worth?
The rarest of the Pet Simulator X NFTs is the Rainbow Huge Pegasus. It is 1 of 1 (meaning it is completely unique), as compared to the Golden Huge Pegasus (3 available) and Regular Huge Pegasus (8 available). The Rainbow Huge Pegasus first sold for over 20,000 USD at the time, and is now available for sale for 888 Ethereum (ETH) – which is worth over 2 million USD currently! Our last article on this topic detailed the prices for the other NFTs in this collection which you can read here. So, it is obvious to see that a lot of money can be made by the creators from selling these NFTs.
Do Roblox NFTs violate the Roblox Community Standards?
Twitter user “Miles Laughability” (@laughability2) highlighted the portion of the Roblox Community Standards below, under Section 19 “Scams”, which Roblox does NOT allow:
“Selling Roblox assets for real money off-platform”
However, as the text does not specify NFTs explicitly, it is still somewhat of a grey area. Is an NFT, which is created and tracked outside of the Roblox game, considered a Roblox asset? While the NFT is linked to an in-game ‘pet’, there is more to the NFT than just that. When users buy NFTs, they are buying a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, or a proof of ownership. Other Twitter users such as “Ryzoft” (@Ryzoft) support this opinion. In response, Preston from BIG Games, the creator of Pet Simulator X, stated that:
“Proper context is needed. That refers to black marketing (selling Roblox limiteds for USD)”
In other words, Preston does not believe that it applies to his situation. In either case, it will ultimately be up to Roblox Corporation themselves to decide if Pet Simulator X has broken the rules. As it is explicitly stated in the Roblox Creator Terms, Roblox has the right to terminate user accounts and creator licenses at any time, for any reason.
Did Roblox Corporation take action against Pet Simulator X?
In their Developer Forum, Roblox Corporation had published a notice, saying that they were conducting an internal review regarding “a recent auction”, although they did not specify Pet Simulator X explicitly. They then updated the notice a short while later, saying that they had updated their Community Standards, under Section 30 “Roblox Economy”, to include the below:
“You also may not use third-party services or products to sell, either directly or as a bundle: in-experience items, exclusive features, or other in-experience enhancements.”
From this update it seems that the Pet Simulator X NFTs, which would constitute an exclusive feature or in-experience item, would not be allowed. The updated notice from Roblox also stated that:
“We are reviewing existing violations and may provide developers an opportunity to bring some concerning transactions into compliance.”
However, so far Roblox Corporation has not taken any action against Pet Simulator X, which we know of.
Backlash against NFTs in Pet Simulator X
Blockchain technology, and thus NFTs, require intense computer calculations to work – which means that they can consume a lot of electricity. While electricity can come from renewable sources, it can also come from the burning of fossil fuels – which causes global warming and climate change. As such, there has been some public backlash against Pet Simulator X releasing NFTs. Preston had again replied on Twitter saying that he never thought about the moral issues – he just thought that it was a cool technology. In another tweet he also admitted that there were “lots of valid criticism” around the subject. There has also been backlash on some forums, such as Reddit, which criticize Preston for other reasons. Exposing younger players, who do not know much about finances, to NFTs, is another reason.
Will there be more NFTs released in the future for Pet Simulator X and other Roblox games?
As we covered in this article, NFTs can make a lot of money for the creators who release them. And for tech-loving creators, they just love to adopt new technology. However, it will ultimately depend on 3 things:
- Whether or not Roblox Corporation will take action against NFTs
- Whether or not the Roblox creators decide to continue releasing NFTs
- How much backlash the community will show in the future to NFTs
We believe NFTs are gaining popularity across the world – and that more NFT releases, as well as the use of blockchain technology in games such as Roblox, will continue – unless Roblox Corporation strictly enforces their updated Community Standards.