Satlantis, an independent, fan-run PC game server for Minecraft that paid players in Bitcoin, will no longer offer its play-to-earn feature following a reported demand from Minecraft creator Mojang. The server’s founder, David Dineno, announced the decision in a Discord post, stating that Mojang asked them to remove the play-to-earn functionality. This feature allowed players to accumulate and withdraw small amounts of Bitcoin while playing the game.
Dineno revealed that the play-to-earn functionality will be removed from Satlantis on Monday at 12 p.m. ET. He advised players to withdraw their satoshis (the smallest denomination of Bitcoin) from the server. However, Dineno assured the community that Satlantis will continue to exist and plans to introduce a similar concept in another game that has yet to be determined.
The decision to remove the play-to-earn feature was met with disappointment from the community. Dineno acknowledged the frustration in his post but remained hopeful about the future of Satlantis. He stated that the server’s concept of sharing profits with players was successful and that they would find a platform that encourages innovation instead of stifling it.
Satlantis assured players that any earnings, in-game items, and player statuses would be ported over to the new game platform in the future. The server will also honor Bitcoin withdrawals outside of the game even after the play-to-earn functionality is disabled.
According to Dineno, Mojang threatened to block Satlantis’ server IP and cease-and-desist their server host if they did not comply with the request to remove the play-to-earn feature. This move sparked criticism from Dineno, who claimed that Mojang’s demand was essentially telling Minecraft players to “Have fun staying poor.”
Satlantis had gained popularity, attracting over 2,300 players who enjoyed the play-to-earn feature. The server had even distributed a full Bitcoin in rewards, which amounted to approximately $26,450 at the time of the announcement. Dineno shared that one player reached out expressing dismay as the earnings had helped him.
Despite Mojang’s decision, Dineno affirmed that Satlantis would persevere. The team has been working tirelessly since the news and has a prototype successor already up and running. Dineno promised to share more updates on their progress sooner than expected.
Minecraft’s usage guidelines have been updated to include a ban on play-to-earn features in user-operated servers, joining the previously announced ban on NFT (non-fungible token) functionality. The timing of these guideline changes is unclear, and further clarification has been sought.
This situation with Satlantis echoes a previous instance involving NFT Worlds, a project that sold tokenized land plots for a Minecraft fan server. When Mojang announced its plan to ban token-gated features, NFT Worlds rebranded as Hytopia and developed its own Minecraft-like game engine.
Minecraft is not the only game to ban NFTs and cryptocurrency from its fan servers. In November 2022, Rockstar Games announced a ban on both NFTs and crypto in Grand Theft Auto V due to the rise of servers where users sold NFTs representing limited-edition in-game items.
Despite the setbacks faced by Satlantis and other similar projects, the desire to innovate and explore the integration of blockchain and gaming remains strong. Developers and players continue to seek new opportunities that support the growth of these innovative technologies in the gaming industry.
