Phil Spencer, Microsoft'south head of gaming, commented on his skepticism towards nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in an interview with Axios:

"What I'd say today on NFT, all up, is I think there'south a lot of speculation and experimentation that's happening, and that some of the creative that I run across today feels more than exploitive than about entertainment."

Equally head executive of Microsoft's Xbox partition, Spencer'southward words conduct weight. Xbox, a game console operating organisation with the second-largest global market share, is ranked but bee PlayStation. This gives Xbox a lot of power over the acceptance or rejection of NFT projects into the gaming ecosystem.

What console wars? PlayStation has diverted from the pack to pb in global market share. Source: Statcounter

Spencer added that he is not completely against all NFTs, clarifying that he doesn't think that "every NFT game is exploitative. I only think nosotros're kind of in that journey of people figuring it out."

Although the earliest NFT can exist traced to 2022–2015, it wasn't until this year that the market's valuation skyrocketed into multi-million dollar territory. And within the gaming infinite, blockchain-based games and play-to-earn, or P2E, games are paving the way for a new era in gaming.

Blockchain's part in transforming the gaming market appears to be intensifying through GameFi, which refers to the financialization of gaming. Over the past month, at to the lowest degree three venture funds have announced sizable capital allocations to so-called GameFi projects. NFTs, meanwhile, have blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar marketplace, with the total sale of digital collectibles hitting $10.seven billion in the third quarter.

Related: Solana Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and FTX launch $100M gaming fund

Nov marks Xbox's 20th anniversary. The company commemorated its vicennial with a live-streamed celebration with game announcements and updates.