- Producer Masayoshi Kikuchi claims NFTs and cloud technology are the future of gaming.
- SEGA VP Shuji Utsumi says the firm might integrate NFTs in its Super Game project.
- SEGA has already filed NFT-related trademark applications with the Japan Patent Office.
SEGA Corporation, a Japanese gaming giant, is mulling integrating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into some of its upcoming top-tier games. The company’s Vice President Shuji Utsumi and Producer Masayoshi Kikuchi revealed these plans during a recent interview while discussing SEGA’s Super Game initiative.
According to Utsumi, Super Game will feature AAA games, which cross over SEGA’s extensive range of technologies. He added that some titles in the Super Game project might comprise NFTs and cloud technology.
Kikuchi explained,
Gaming has a history of expansion through the connection of various cultures and technologies. For example, social networking and game video viewing are recent examples.
He added,
It is a natural extension for the future of gaming that it will expand to involve new areas such as cloud gaming and NFT. We are also developing SuperGame from the perspective of how far different games can be connected to each other.
SEGA walks back on its negative NFT stance
While SEGA is comfortable floating the idea of integrating NFTs into its games, this was not always the case. In December last year, the company’s executives said SEGA would not embrace NFTs if its users would consider such a move a simple way for the company to make money.
Additionally, they said the company would need to address issues like how to minimize the negative elements of NFTs, how to embrace the sector while observing Japanese regulations, and what products customers would consider acceptable before moving any further.
However, the executives maintained that SEGA was interested in exploring different aspects of NFTs and play-to-earn (P2E) game models. This opening saw the company file two NFT-related trademark applications with the Japan Patent Office.
The future of gaming is yet to be determined
This news comes after Ubisoft became the first game developer to integrate NFTs into games late last year. However, this move got a frosty reception from traditional gamers who claimed Ubisoft was out to make a quick buck.
Gamers maintained the same attitude when other game developers, including GSC Game World, Team17, and EA, announced similar plans. As a result, most of them pulled back from their NFT strategies.
Although companies like SEGA and Animoca Brands, the creator of The Sandbox, believe the metaverse and NFTs are the next big thing, the inventor of PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi, does not share this belief.
In an interview earlier this year, Kutaragi said being in the real world is very important. He added that the metaverse is about making quasi-real in the virtual world. According to him, this is pointless and only serves to isolate people instead of uniting them.
