Electronics giant Sony has revealed a patent that suggests the company might be expanding into NFTs and digital assets. Originally filed last year, the patent is separate from Sony’s PlayStation Stars program, which allows users to collect unique digital collectibles and earn rewards.

Sony’s Plans to Use Blockchain Technology to Track In-Game NFTs

A patent owned by Sony has been recently published a patent for a system that could be used to track the creation, use, and transfer of digital assets created within a game. Titled “Tracking Unique In-Game Digital Assets Using Tokens on a Distributed Ledger,” was originally submitted on May 7, 2021. The patent reads:

“Individuals often find it meaningful to own or use unique physical items related to respected celebrities or activities. For example, fans of skilled baseball player Babe Ruth, or of baseball in general, often seek to purchase and own baseballs autographed by Ruth, baseballs hit by Ruth in an important baseball game, trading cards depicting Ruth, and the like.”

The patent envisions a system for “creating, modifying, tracking, authenticating, and/or transferring unique digital assets” associated with video games. The digital assets may be in-game items or video game digital media assets with media representations of moments of gameplay, like clips, images, or audio clips.

In short, the electronics company has focused on the eSports scene and digital items that players might want. The patent compares these digital items with baseballs either signed or hit by baseball stars like Babe Ruth, but relates to in-game items that can be transferred across platforms or blockchains.

It is worth noting that the patent was submitted in May 2021, during the midst of the NFT craze. At the time, the market for NFTs was at all-time highs, with some non-fungible tokens fetching millions of dollars in sales. However, the audience response to NFTs has shifted quite a lot since then.

NFT Market Drops to Record Low Amid FTX Drama

The NFT market has been in a downturn over the past couple of months amid a prolonged crypto winter. NFT sales volumes have fallen to the lowest levels in more than a year, and the floor price of blue-chip collections has also taken a hit.

According to NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam, NFT sales volume in terms of USD across the Ethereum blockchain has dropped to around $10 million in recent days, down by over 99% compared to the all-time high of $628 million recorded on May 1, 2022.

Meanwhile, Solana NFTs have been hit the most, with their sales volume dropping to below $1 million over the past few days. The drop is mainly attributed to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which was one of the biggest backers of the Solana blockchain.

However, it is worth noting that the continued adoption of NFTs and investments in the industry could suggest that this market downturn is temporary. As reported, GameStop’s NFT marketplace crossed the $5 million trading volume milestone last week, despite the overall sour NFT market conditions.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

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