At least one developer is upset about this new move.

Valve is no longer allowing games built using blockchain technology that "issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs" to be sold or offered through Steam. This news was actually revealed on Twitter by the developer of one such NFT-based game.

This new rule is listed on Valve's onboarding rules page for developers. It was first brought to light by the developer behind Age of Rust, SpacePirate Games. The developer says that Valve will remove all games and apps built on blockchain technologies that allow them to issue or exchange cryptocurrencies or NFTs.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are made to use the blockchain in order to authenticate ownership of unique digital items. Once purchased by someone, these NFTs could theoretically be sold at auctions for much higher prices. At their heart, the idea behind NFTs are just super dumb. It's like real-life microtransactions where you spend money to verify that you "own" an easily reproduceable digital item like a photo, video, or piece of audio. NFT transactions are also super susceptible to scammers who bail on the deal after money is paid. They are also super terrible for the environment.

But apparently people spend millions of dollars on some NFTs, so you know... they're probably here to stay for a while. A fool and his money and all that...

Just this past June, the NFT market collapsed with a 90% reduction in value. I can't argue with the fact that people find some value in NFTs. I sure as hell don't get the appeal of spending hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars to say "hey, I 'own' this digital image of dummy thicc Rainbow Dash sitting on a honey covered Christopher Walken" but that doesn't mean that others don't see the value in it.

Valve had previously denied another NFT-based game, Light Nite, from appearing on Steam back on September 30th. At the time the reason for the game's denial wasn't shared but it certainly looks like it's due to Valve turning away games that "have real-world value." Light Nite is a game where players earn NFTs by playing the game. These users can then sell the NFTs in a bitcoin marketplace.

In what is perhaps a rarity, Epic Games' own Tim Sweeney previously said that his company was not touching NFTs due to their "intractable mix of scams, interesting decentralized tech foundations, and scams." NFT scams are so bad they had to be listed twice.

As an aside, I made the mistake of searching "rainbow dash thicc" to try to find a good image to use for this news post. I regret... everything.

Update at 7:09PM (ET): Well, apparently Tim Sweeney and Epic did a real quick about-face after learning that Valve was banning these types of games. The company issued a statement to The Verge saying that they are "open to games that support cryptocurrency or blockchain-based assets" on the Epic Games Store.