Google Play Embraces Digital Assets & NFTs: What You Need to Know

cryptonews.com:

In an unprecedented move, Google Play, the popular Andriod app and game marketplace, has announced policy changes to allow the integration of digital assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into its platform.

Google Play Group Product Manager, Joseph Mills, unveiled the policy shift on Wednesday via a blog post.

In it, he underlined that the move will usher in a new era of enriched user experiences and novel forms of user content.

The policy change stipulates that developers will now be permitted to incorporate blockchain-based elements like NFTs in their apps and games, as long as they maintain full transparency with users about the presence of these digital assets.

Google Play’s move has been lauded as an innovative way to reconceptualize traditional games, allowing unique user-owned content, and augmenting user loyalty through rare NFT rewards.

Reddit, a forerunner in leveraging the potential of blockchain technology, notably via its Avatar NFTs, partnered with Google in the run-up to the policy shift.

“While tokenized assets are meant to build more enriched, immersive experiences,” Mills noted, “as an added user protection, developers may not promote or glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities.”

This move upholds Google Play’s existing Real-Money Gambling, Games, and Contests policy, which forbids apps from promoting paid mechanisms, such as 'loot boxes', that offer a chance to win tokenized assets, including NFTs, unless they meet specific gambling eligibility requirements.

Mills explained that these limitations on digital asset promotions could prevent crypto newcomers from being tricked into buying tokenized assets on the assumption that they could secure massive financial gains.

Google Play's