Have you ever thought that the only one who chose No Man’s Sky? (opens in a new tab) really need to make it great is cryptocurrency? Maybe not, probably not, but some players did, and they decided to make one. According to this vice (opens in a new tab) report, however, the goal is not to make money, and in fact the people behind the project hope to keep it worthless.
The cryptocurrency was created by members of Galactic Hub (opens in a new tab), a No Man’s Sky community working on Discord, Reddit and of course No Man’s Sky itself, which aims to provide a deeper co-op experience in deep space than the game does on its own. The group has been around for over five years, building a significant presence for itself and inspiring other groups to start their own in-game companies.
HubCoin, as the group’s cryptocurrency is known, is intended to be an extension of this community-building effort. It’s aimed at No Man’s Sky endgame players who have effectively transcended the need for in-game devices but “still want access to those things that can only be achieved through player activity,” said Galactic Hub founder 7101334.
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They want to order ByteBeat tracks under certain parameters, they want to pay for an art canvas in their base, they want a PC player to record and edit a custom faun companion for them, they want a skilled architect to help set up from their base or doing home decorating, or maybe they just want the convenience of not collecting their own resources.
HubCon’s goal is to fill that void by including a cryptocurrency that is not a real currency, but instead runs on an Ethereum testnet. It’s a bit like a crypto PTR: it works in the same way as a “real” cryptocurrency, but has no real value. This means that players cannot withdraw money, which reduces the chances of gambling becoming a lucrative business.
Rather than being bought and sold on exchanges, HubCoin is earned through activities such as posting to the Galactic Hub Discord and subreddit, using the Galactic Hub wiki, posting to Twitter, and attending certain online events.game. Once earned, it can be used to purchase in-game goods and services, tip players for help or information, bet on Galactic Hub Star League events, or make purchases on the Galactic Hub Marketplace. It is especially useful for console gamers, who don’t have access to the same gaming tools as PC gamers and therefore have to rely on them for custom resources.
The number of players using the currency is quite low – just 149, according to the report, which is just over half of the total number of Galactic Hub citizens, and inflation poses a risk as this number grows. But the biggest potential problem is that while HubCoin has no official value, nothing prevents players from assigning it themselves: if I have a bunch and you want some, would you be willing to give me a few bucks to get it? put it back on, and I’d be willing to take it. To reduce this chance, the Galactic Hub says it will blacklist any player caught selling or buying HubCoin for real money, in any format.
In response to concerns about the environmental damage caused by cryptocurrencies, the Galactic Hub has also transitioned to a “proof of authority” testnet before its public launch. Proof of Authority uses less energy than proof of work typically used for crypto mining, but it’s unclear exactly how much less energy is used – and less of a bad thing is always a bad thing by definition.
Despite its drawbacks, it’s an interesting piece of emerging meta-gameplay that, if it avoids several pitfalls and ensures that it doesn’t contribute to the demise of the planet, will increase the value of crypto as a resource. I’m not convinced that the system has to rely on cryptocurrency to work, but I’m very curious where all this will be in a year or two.