Sega says it will walk away from NFTs if the response is poor
It seems Sega's blockchain gaming future isn't set in stone. Word is spreading this week about comments made during an investor's meeting late last year that shows the company isn't quite all-in on the latest craze in the video game business.
Back in December, Sega Sammy president and CEO Haruki Satomi, board director and CFO Koichi Fukazawa, and Sega Corporation president/COO Yukio Sugino took questions from investors about its plans for 2022. The trio were quizzed about topics ranging from Sonic Frontiers to its announcement that the company would be getting into the blockchain video game business--specifically with a "play-to-earn" strategy.
When asked about "play-to-earn," the trio responded that Sega isn't quite all-in on the concept quite yet. "In terms of NFTs (sic) we would like to try out various experiments and we have already started many different studies and considerations but nothing is decided at this point regarding P2E," they said.
NFTs of course, refers to non-fungible tokens--blockchain-backed assets that can be purchased using cryptocurrency and ostensibly are uniquely owned digital assets that can appreciate or depreciate in value (many of them also burn an obscene amount of CO2 when they're minted).
One of Sega's 2021 experiments with NFTs was to partner with Double Jump Tokyo to sell classic game assets as unique collectibles.
Sega leadership seems to be paying attention to the negative backlash players (and developers) are having to NFTs. The trio stated that if Sega wants to pursue NFTs as a business strategy, it needs to be able to "mitigate the negative elements" of the technology, and ensure it can be produced in compliance with Japanese regulation.
What's eye-catching is their apparent
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