Xbox boss Phil Spencer says NFT game plans ‘feel more exploitive than about entertainment’

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has revealed his concerns over NFTs in a new interview.

NFT, or ‘non-fungible tokens’ are a unique non-interchangeable unit of data that is stored in a digital ledger. This means that things like images, music and even in-game items can be sold to a specific “owner” that can be verified via the blockchain.

NFTs are a growing trend in the games industry, with publishing heavyweights like EA and Ubisoft investing in the volatile and environmentally dangerous cryptocurrency sector.

Speaking to Stephen Totilo for Axios, Xbox’s Phil Spencer expressed concern over the movement.

“What I’d say today on NFT, all up, is I think there’s a lot of speculation and experimentation that’s happening, and that some of the creative that I see today feels more exploitive than about entertainment,” he said.

Spencer went on to refuse to write off NFTs completely, stating: “I don’t think it necessitates that every NFT game is exploitive. I just think we’re kind of in that journey of people figuring it out.”

He continued: “I think anything that we looked at in our storefront that we said is exploitive would be something that we would, you know, take action on,” he added. “We don’t want that kind of content.”

This news is the latest to come from a round of interviews with the Xbox boss in celebration of 20 years of Xbox.

During a new GQ profile published on Monday, the Xbox boss revealed that Microsoft is encouraging him to think about a succession plan.

“Clearly, as somebody who has been here for 33 years, I have more years behind me than ahead of me,” he told GQ. “But the longevity of this team, the sustainability of this team, there’s nothing that’s more important to me right now than that.”

Commenting specifically on succession, Spencer added: “You should do it when you think about the long-term health of the team. To make sure the team is in a good place. That the culture of the company is in a good place. And that we’re making the right decisions on who to bet on. That has got to outlive me.”