Crypto Gaming: Sega Reveals Blockchain Game Plans; AAA shooter Shrapnel unveils a new trailer
Japanese video game publishing giant Sega has announced a partnership that will see the development of its first blockchain game. Meanwhile, Shrapnel, one of the best-looking NFT games with AAA ambitions, has released a great trailer.
Sega and Double Jump Tokyo
Many major crypto funds and entities are bullish on the blockchain gaming story as a source of crypto and NFT adoption. And part of that stems from the belief that much of mainstream gaming is slowly embracing blockchain technology.
That’s despite some feedback from players extolling the idea that NFTs are nothing more than cash – even though NFT believers are of the opinion that digital asset ownership is the future of gaming.
But over to Sega, because in terms of mainstream adoption, that’s potentially important.
#Segaone of the most influential Japan-based gaming companies, has announced that it will build its first #blockchain-based game. pic.twitter.com/Ga3ELGwBek
— Crypto Hunters Elite ✪ (@coincatch1) 3 October 2022
The game company’s first blockchain-based title will actually be built by another Japanese game company, Double Jump Tokyo, and will be based on Sega’s Sangokushi Taisen franchise, which is a popular arcade game in Japan.
Although the announcement (as reported by Japanese gaming site 4Gamer) is light on details about how blockchain (and possibly NFTs) will be implemented, asset tokenization appears to be a no-brainer.
And that’s because games like Sangokushi Taisen have many potential assets to symbolize. It is a real-time strategy game where players use physical cards, which they place on the playing area to make them appear in the game virtually.
Other major legacy gaming brands that have dipped their toes in the crypto/blockchain waters include, to varying degrees, Atari, Konami and Ubisoft.
Although in January of this year Sega CEO Haruki Satomi indicated hesitancy and caution about the introduction of NFTs into games due to negative sentiment at the time, just a week later registered a trademark for ‘Sega NFT‘.
Shrapnel releases its first trailer
Shrapnel, a sci-fi themed first person shooter “extraction” game is one of a number of great blockchain/NFT games with AAA ambitions, including the likes of Illuvium, Guild of Guardians, Civitas, Torque Drift 2 and others.
And it’s just released its long-awaited trailer, made with input from a number of notable figures from the gaming industry using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5.
It looks suitably cinematic and action-packed, and we can believe it reflects the graphical quality players can expect from the game when it’s finally released.
Take a look…
In April this year Stockhead spoke with the dev game’s Head of Studio, Don Norbury, who gave us a comprehensive lowdown on the project, revealing that it’s set to be the first “moddable” FPS in the fast-growing blockchain gaming industry.
Norbury is also the CTO of the game’s developer, Neon Media – a Seattle-based game studio and virtual production company spun out of HBO’s Interactive and Immersive Group. This is a production team with some serious mainstream gaming chops, having worked on some of the most famous games in the industry at Xbox, Electronic Arts, LucasFilm and more.
As per details shared with Stockhead, the trailer was produced in collaboration with Sydney-based animation studio Plastic Wax, which has worked on titles such as Fortnite, Tomb Radar, Hitman and more. It was directed by “gaming legend Jerry O’Flaherty” and written by Shrapnel boss Mark Long. The music was produced by BAFTA award-winning composer Jesper Kyd, with sound supervision by Oscar-nominated sound producer Alan Rankin.
A little more has gone into this than your average crypto game trailer, then. Although to be fair, we have seen a few others impressive also in recent months.
“Producing this trailer was one of the most amazing creative collaborations I’ve ever had,” said Long. “This was my third time working with Jerry O’Flaherty. Like everyone on the team, Jerry is an expert in the cinematic application of the Unreal Engine, and [he] knew how to get the kind of “you’re there” immediacy of a hand-held virtual camera that the script required.
“The team at Plastic Wax directed a brilliant pair of stunt actors for MOCAP, and the creative director there, Nathan Maddams, brought the script to life in a way I never imagined possible.
“Alan Rankin has a passion for foley that produced an authentic sound design that really sells the action. And Jesper Kyd knocked the score out of the park at the first attempt.
Long also revealed that there is an Easter egg with artwork by a member of the Shrapnel community on a billboard “that was fun to slip into”. And, he notes, the trailer switches to first-person at the end – “inviting players to jump in, symbolically”.
THE WORLD IS YOURS!
⚔️ Play it
🏗 Build it
💡 Discover itWill our hero survive? See the full HD version made in @UnrealEngine 5 on our YouTube – 🔗 in the comments! pic.twitter.com/yAEuu4Uec4
— SHRAPNEL 🔺 (@playSHRAPNEL) 3 October 2022
It looks like crypto game YouTubers are getting excited about Shrapnel. Here’s “Crypto Stache” tweeting about another prominent content creator “Brycent” who rates Shrapnel in the same high tier for quality with Illuvium, Guild of Guardians and a handful of others.
Make sure you go WATCH THE VIDEO before judging the pictures.
SO MUCH ALPHA in this one.
— ‘Stache (@CryptoStache) 4 October 2022
