Sega halts its plans to develop blockchain games

Sega, one of the companies that had opted to carry out projects that involve the development of games based on technology blockchainHe has decided to back down. The Japanese publisher does not definitively rule out the use of this type of asset, but to date all internal initiatives with blockchain that I had on my way have been parked.

Shuji Utsumi, Sega’s co-director of operations, confirms to Bloomberg that the company has decided to keep the projects in a drawer blockchain developed by third parties that used some of their biggest franchises, including Sonic The Hedgehog and Yakuza, to avoid devaluation. The executive has also confirmed that they have put aside the plans they had to internally develop games with this type of technology, which usually includes cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The publisher had not yet announced any concrete plans, but it had publicly shown his interest in creating games. blockchain.

“The games play-to-earn they are boring,” Utsumi tells Bloomberg. “What good are games if they’re not fun?” The model play-to-earn is the one that allows title players blockchain earn money in the form of cryptocurrencies or NFTs while playing. On the other hand, the executive has not made it clear if they will use Web 3.0 technology in the “Super Game” initiative, which includes the development of several AAA multiplayer games over five years. In the past, the possibility of some of them using NFTs had been discussed.

Sega’s problem is that it is still not clear if the technology blockchain it will really take off in the video game industry. It must also be taken into account that until now players have not received this type of initiative well and that after a good period of time, cryptocurrencies are not going through their best moment. Hence, the company gives up its plans, at least for now. The initiatives that will go ahead will be the smaller ones, including those that use less heavy intellectual properties like Virtua Fighter and Three Kingdoms. Both already have NFT collections.

Sega isn’t the only company that has expressed interest in gaming. blockchain. Two other large publishers that have opted for this technology have been Ubisoft and Square Enix. The French have the Ubisoft Quartz initiative underway, while Yosuke Matsuda, president of the Japanese publisher, said he hoped NFTs and the blockchain became a trend in the video game industry. One year later, Matsuda is no longer the president of Square Enix.