With its SuperGame project, Sonic’s creator has a major decade ahead of it, but how much of it will rely on blockchain and Sega NFTs?
Take note, traditional gamers: Major systems and video game franchises will soon be impacted by NFTs. How will your favorite publisher or developer participate, is the question.
I’m going to provide answers to these and other questions in a series of essays that investigate the positions on NFTs and blockchain technology taken by each AAA game developer, publisher, and console manufacturer. This article focuses on Sega, one of the industry’s greatest innovators who gave us platforms like the Master System, Mega Drive, and Dreamcast in addition to Sonic the Hedgehog.
How does Sega fit into the game industry?
Although the Japanese firm Sega is still a strong player in the gaming industry, its name doesn’t carry the same weight as it once did. Sega will always hold a special place in our hearts as the creator of many beloved franchises, like Sonic the Hedgehog, Bayonetta, Alex Kidd, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Yakuza, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Fighter, Super Monkey Ball, and many more.
One of the few game firms that has produced consoles is Sega. It has released five significant platforms over the course of 20 years: the SG-1000, Master System, Mega Drive, Saturn, and Dreamcast. Along with being the star of the arcades, it also boasts a number of other important devices, such as the Game Gear.
Sega has recently experienced considerable growth after a few difficult years. This has been made possible in great part by the popularity of the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, Yakuza, and team-ups like Mario and Sonic in the Olympics. It was sufficient for Sega to commit close to $700 million to upcoming projects, such as a SuperGame metaverse venture.
SNES NFTs
To put it mildly, Sega’s stance on NFTs has been a roller-coaster. Sega first revealed it would be experimenting with NFTs and P2E game elements in April 2021. Sega would “start selling NFT digital contents that employ blockchain technology,” the business explicitly announced at the time.
Back then, typical gamers paid little attention to the announcement. NFTs had not yet crossed their minds.
At the same time, Sega disclosed plans for the NFTs to capitalize on fan nostalgia. Sega announced a collaboration with doublejump.tokyo to publish NFTs based on their vintage game assets, like music and artwork.
The original goal was to make these accessible by Q3 of 2021. These haven’t been exposed to light as of June 2022.
Throughout 2021, Sega continued to express its support for NFTs as their acceptance expanded. Sega CEO Haruki Satomi stated during a Q2 results announcement on November 11, 2021 that the company was “considering mergers and acquisitions and investments in new industries, such as NFTs.” In order to accomplish these objectives, he even said the corporation would spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the following five years.
Sega flips backward, or does it?
However, gamers started speaking out more about their distaste for NFTs in December 2021. especially during the Ubisoft Quartz release. Satomi grew cagier in a briefing to the company’s managers as a result.
“Regarding NFT, we are interested in trying out numerous experiments, and we have already begun a variety of investigations and considerations, but nothing has been resolved yet regarding P2E. Numerous announcements have already been regarding this, but some users have expressed their disapproval. Numerous factors must be carefully considered, including how to minimize the bad effects, how much may be introduced while adhering to Japanese law, and what the general public will tolerate. However, if it’s seen as a straightforward way to get money, I would prefer to decide not to move on.
A management meeting with CEO Haruki Satomi, CFO Koichi Fukazawa, and COO Yukio Sugino in January 2022 saw the company’s gap grow.
“We must carefully consider a number of issues, including how to mitigate the drawbacks, how much to put [NFTs] under Japanese legislation, and what the user base will accept and reject. We will then look into it further whether this contradicts our mission statement of “Continuously Creating, Forever Captivating.”
“Investigate it more” is far from a definitive no. Not even a polite no will do.
And sure enough, the developer proceeded to trademark both the Sega NFT and Sega NFT Classics Collection emblems in that same month. Many commentators predicted that the latter might even go so far as to establish a marketplace for retro games where enthusiasts could buy, lend, and sell vintage Sega titles to one another.
A collaboration with doublejump.tokyo
These trademarks most likely have anything to do with the aforementioned collaboration with doublejump.tokyo. I predict that the NFTs sold under these labels will resemble those produced by Konami and Atari. To raise money for upcoming game development, these seasoned developers have started minting legacy assets as NFTs and selling them to collectors.
Tomi Brooks, the director of business development of doublejump.tokyo, spoke on the subject in March 2022:
“There is a split for gamers. Some people think NFTs are fantastic, are tech savvy, and desire ownership of the virtual goods they spend time creating.
The opposing side claims that this is bad for the environment. They might not be aware that there are various kinds of technologies, though.
Metaverse for Sega SuperGame
With the development of the SuperGame project, a more direct connection between NFTs and upcoming Sega games was made. The developer’s intention to enter the market with a string of AAA blockbuster games from adored properties like Sonic, Crazy Taxi, and Jet Set Radio was hinted by its announcement.
Sega’s language during the original reveal was ambiguous but intriguing. The SuperGame series will go “beyond the typical structure of games,” according to executive VP Shuji Utsumi. This was also indicated elsewhere by a mention of using Web3, which prominently relies on blockchain technology.
Sega was more forthright about preparing fans for a future with NFTs in April 2022. Producer Masayoshi Kikuchi commented on the excitement sparked by Sega’s innovative SuperGame concept as follows:
“Throughout history, gaming has grown as a result of the fusion of diverse cultures and technologies. It makes sense that gaming will continue to develop and include new technologies like cloud gaming and NFTs. Additionally, we are designing SuperGame with the idea of how interconnected various video games may be.
The most overt mention of a Sega multiverse—one that includes several IPs—can be found in that last line. Potentially in a manner resembling what Enjin and MetaKey have demonstrated, both of which compare interoperability to Nintendo’s amiibo. In other words, an NFT unlocks content in a game rather than simply appearing in it.
The collaboration between the SuperGame project and Microsoft’s Azure platform provides additional proof that a Sega metaverse is the ultimate goal. a system that uses the blockchain, Azure Confidential Ledger.
Future of blockchain, Sega metaverse, and NFTs
Sega is interested in blockchain technology. But incorporating blockchain technology into game production doesn’t always mean NFTs. And the persistently contradictory messaging, particularly through the beginning of 2022, implies Sega is still figuring out how to make the most of this developing technology without betraying decades of fan confidence.
This suggests to me that Sega asset collections from NFT might debut as wholly different, non-gameplay projects. And that the SuperGame metaverse will support its next AAA games without an NFT or crypto economy. Preferably in the near future. shortly
