Segahas made a significant U-turn on its approach toblockchaingames, now saying that play-to-earn titles are “boring.” This comes after the gaming giant previously sounded poised togo all-in on NFTs and Web3 as a whole, only to suddenly scale back its aspirations and enthusiasm for the new technology.
This comes from comments made by co-chief operating officer Shuji Utsumi while speaking toBloomberg(thanks,VGC) about Sega’s ongoing blockchain strategy. Fans will be relieved to hear that this new approach means thatSonicandYakuzaare safe from being turned into NFTs, only using less popular franchises to test the waters.
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“The action in play-to-earn games is boring. What’s the point if games are no fun?” says Utsumi, discussing Sega’s new approach to the blockchain. “We’re looking into whether this technology is really going to take off in this industry, after all.”
In other words, it sounds like Sega hasn’t been impressed with what it’s seen so far - certainly not impressed enough to risk brand damage to the likes of Sonic and the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. This isn’t too surprising - after more than a year of being known to the wider public, NFTs rarely seem to attract positive headlines. Web3 gaming even less so, with the industry yet to see a blockchain game take off with players not already in the NFT scene. Ubisoft Quartz might have come the closest, but even thatdoesn’t seem to be going anywhereanytime soon.
Even so, that doesn’t mean Sega has ditched the idea entirely. Utsumi goes on to indicate that he still sees some potential in the field, even if the quality isn’t there just yet.
“For the majority of people in the video game industry, what blockchain advocates say may sound a bit extreme, but that’s how the first penguin [risk-taker] has always been.” Utsumi also says that blockchain as a whole shouldn’t be “underestimated”, so Sega still has half an eye on this part of the industry.
Sega also plans to allow Web3 developers to use the Three Kingdoms and Virtua Fighter franchises, so the company certainly has some faith in the tech. Whether or not this amounts to anything is another matter entirely, as it seems that Sega has largely missed the boat on widespread interest in the blockchain.
At the very least, upcoming Sonic games like Sonic Superstars will be NFT-free - a relief to fans who feared the worst when Sega initially indicated that it would be exploring blockchain possibilities. We should hopefully be avoiding a Sega-published play-to-earn game too, saving us from a pretty soulless experience.
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