Microsoft launches game to celebrate women in science — with Minecraft NFT rewards

Tech giant Microsoft and blockchain developer Enjin have teamed up to release a game celebrating women in science that rewards players with Minecraft-compatible non-fungible tokens.

“Azure Space Mystery” is an interactive, fictional online game designed to celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Players work to save the International Space Station, and on completion they can claim a limited edition NFT.

During gameplay, players will also learn about prominent European female scientists including Mary Somerville, Caroline Herschel, and Raymonde de Laroche. The NFTs are compatible and transferable with the popular game Minecraft, which had 131 million monthly players as of October 2020.

Bryana Kortendick, Enjin’s VP of operations and communications, stated:

“Education is key to empowering the next generation of innovators. Enjin is proud to work alongside Microsoft to generate innovative opportunities for merging virtual worlds, bringing digital communities closer together and celebrating powerful women in science and tech.”

By logging into Minecraft’s MyMetaverse server and connecting with an Enjin wallet containing the NFTs, players can access a sequel Azure Space Mystery quest within Minecraft which can be completed to receive additional collectible NFTs.

While there is an infinite supply of the tokens available to be claimed by players, the NFTs will never be issued again after the Space Mystery promotion has ended.

Microsoft first announced it had teamed up with Enjin to create blockchain-powered “badge rewards” in 2019, with the Azure Heroes program delivering NFTs to roughly 6,400 unique recipients.