Sega wants out of blockchain gaming

Posted on July 8, 2023

It’s been a wild couple of years for words like ‘blockchain’. As it feels like we’re getting more and more news about studios wanting to get into the blockchain. The latest company was EA Sports, who partnered with Nike to bring .SWOOSH NFTs to their games.

Some companies tried to get ahead by banning the idea like Mojang back in 2022. And in 2021, Sega wanted to try to get into the NFT game, which of course caused commotion within the gaming sphere, proving its perhaps not the best idea to bring a volatile product into the space.

Sega has said in an article with Bloomberg, that it is no longer going ahead with their plans. Co-Chief Operating Officer, Shuji Utsumi, said they’re avoiding using their games in third-party blockchain games because they don’t want to devalue their content. They were also planning to develop games within the “blockchain” genre, but have since shelved it “for now”.

 

Utsumi told Bloomberg that “play-to-earn games [are] boring,” adding that “what’s the point if games are no fun?” With all that said, Sega is still planning to let some of their partners use characters from Three Kingdoms and Virtua Fighter as NFTs. But Sega is still allowing some of it’s less popular franchises to invest in the blockchain. Though Utsumi added that he’s “non-committal” about Sega’s “super game”. According to Bloomberg it’s a “line-up of big-budget online multiplayer games” coming out in 2026.

With all that said, and Utsumi stating that they’re not interested in using their big named games to get into the blockchain game, he still seems positive on the whole thing. Telling Bloomberg that “we should never underestimate [risk-takers].”
Hopefully, Sega follows other companies who’ve decided to not invest in the technology. All it sounds like is that Sega isn’t going to invest in it… for now. NFTs haven’t been having a great time as of recent, as the most popular NFT, Bored Ape Yatch Club, has reached its lowest selling point since October of 2021. We’ll have to wait and see what Sega decides to do in the coming years.