This month only, Sega revealed its plans to develop a blockchain game based on one of the company’s IPs. This is a somewhat surprising decision, especially considering how most of the gaming community feels about blockchain technology and NFT gaming in particular.
That said, it’s worth revisiting Sega’s previous comments regarding blockchain and NFT implementation. The company has expressed its stance on the controversial technology, and it is one of cautious optimism. Perhaps this means that Sega’s upcoming games can avoid the usual pitfalls of blockchain implementation – environmental concerns being one of the main factors. But then again, fans are already disappointed with Sega’s decision. So regardless of what the company does with the upcoming title, it may be doomed from the start.
Sega’s previous mentions of NFTs and Blockchain games
Last April, fans caused an uproar in response to Sega’s decision to launch its own line of NFTs. This was a project in collaboration with Double Jump Tokyo, where the companies would create NFTs from the company’s legacy IPs and sell them. After the backlash, Sega took a step back from its NFT plans.
In January 2022, Sega revealed that they were experimenting with NFTs. However, the company also stressed that it “needs[ed] to carefully consider many things’, including certain legalities and potential customer response. Sega also noted that if the NFT implementation was perceived as just a money-making tactic, the company would not continue with it. But in the same month, fans caught wind of the “Sega NFT” trademark, which Sega apparently applied for in December 2021.
In April 2022, Sega was in the spotlight again. This time, the company elaborated on its so-called “Super Game” project, which was already underway in 2021. In an interview with VGC, Sega elaborated that their Super Game project may make use of NFTs and thus blockchain. technology.
Sega producer Masayoshi Kikuchi even states, “It is a natural extension for the future of gaming that it will expand to involve new areas such as cloud gaming and NFT.” It thus appears that the company has finished its careful assessment of the new technology and is finally moving forward with implementation – for better or for worse.
Sega NFT game, Blockchain implementation
Now Sega has announced its upcoming blockchain game, a collaboration with Double Jump Tokyo. The game will be based on the company’s old IP, Sangokushi Taisen. Sangokushi Taisen was an arcade game that centered around both physical and digital card collection. It seems like the ideal way to incorporate NFTs as players will be able to “own” their digital collectibles.
One thing worth noting is that Double Jump Tokyo is a startup that specializes in developing blockchain games. The company is connected to the Oasys blockchain, a blockchain developed specifically for the gaming community. It is also described as being environmentally friendly, as the architecture makes it so that the blockchain does not use unnecessary energy. This is probably where Sega will plug their upcoming game.
Despite the lengths Sega and Double Jump Tokyo have gone to to create a seemingly more sustainable blockchain-slash-NFT video game, the community remains unconvinced – and for good reason. Blockchain technologies have been labeled negatively because of all the scams and controversies associated with them. And even without all that, there’s still the problem of how harmful it is to the environment.
Granted, the blockchain has found less harmful ways to work, such as using Proof of Stake (which is what Oasys uses) instead of the Proof of Work algorithms (which are notorious for their energy consumption). However, it still raises the question of whether such changes are enough to offset the large amount of damage already caused. That being said, it seems that Sega’s upcoming game is doomed to fail, just like the other blockchain games from popular developers that came before it.
Segaits unnamed blockchain game is currently in development.
Source: Oasis
