Google Play updates its policies permitting blockchain games and apps

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Google Play has updated its store policy to allow for new ways to transact blockchain-based digital content within apps and games.

The move comes as a response to the growing interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other tokenized digital assets, which offer unique and engaging experiences for users. Google signaled this was coming earlier this year, and it is now working with Web3 game makers such as Mythical Games, said Joseph Mills, group product manager for Google Play, in a statement.

While NFT games have had safe harbor on the Epic Games Store, others such as Apple, Google and Steam have prevented developers from selling such games, unless they had a very big Web2 component, meaning players could play a free-to-play game and pay for it with a credit card rather than cryptocurrency. With this change, Google Play will expose blockchain games to the masses. In the past, blockchain game companies had to hope for the best distributing their games on the open web — which presented them with considerable distribution problems as the app stores are where the players are.

Mythical Games said its NFL Rivals Web2/Web3 game hit nearly a million downloads in June. The Web2 and Web3 requirements ensure that platform owners such as Google Play can still collect their 30% fee on transactions.

As part of the new policy, developers must be transparent with users about tokenized digital assets, Mills said. If an app or game sells or enables users to earn tokenized digital assets, developers must declare this clearly. Additionally, developers may not promote or glamorize any potential earnings from playing or trading