Gaming companies do not appear to have had enough of the Web3 sector despite reports suggesting gaming isn’t sustaining in the space. Japanese multinational company Sega is the latest gaming company that entered this space. Notably, Sega has experimented with the idea of blockchain integration in the past, which did not go well.
Increasing Participation of Web3 Users
Sega’s Singapore arm will partner with Finschia, a web3 company to explore new opportunities in blockchain gaming. Furthermore, Sega Singapore is acting as one of the node operators of Finschia while also involved in the network’s governance. The Japanese gaming giant recently licensed their Sangokushi Taisen franchise to a blockchain game developer Double Jump Tokyo.
“To expand the Finschia ecosystem and popularize Web3, SEGA Singapore plans to collaborate in the development of Web3 games using famous SEGA IPs (Intellectual Properties),” the announcement reads. “The Foundation looks forward to growing and evolving by increasing the participation of global Web3 game users in the Finschia ecosystem.”
Given the community backlash in the past, fans are not expected to react positively this time. When the company decided to experiment with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), fans of their flagship game, Sonic The Hedgehog, were not happy. The fact that the decision did not align with the values the fans have experienced throughout the years.
NFTs are energy-intensive assets as they constantly consume power throughout their life cycles via sales transactions. Ironically, Sonic The Hedgehog has long been associated with protecting the environment but the ideas of integrating NFT by Sega sparked debates among fans on X (formerly Twitter) in 2021. A user then said, “This is the same company who made a specific game that’s all about preventing a mechanized and toxic wasteland. This is just disappointing.”
Although NFTs’ impact on the environment might be less today given that a majority of them are operating on Ethereum (ETH), the second largest blockchain in the market. The network shifted their operations from an energy intensive consensus mechanism dubbed proof-of-work (PoW) to environment friendly proof-of-stake (PoS).
However, the backlash did not seem to stop Sega from going ahead with their work with blockchain based assets. According to Ars Technica, a technology news publication, “The company said that they ‘would like to try out various experiments, and we have already started many different studies and considerations’ in the space, including segments like play-to-earn (P2E) gaming”.
Entering mainstream gaming for assets like non-fungible tokens is still a far cry. Even as Gaming organizations like Square Enix, Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts (EA), and more have shown interest in NFTs, fans of any organization opposing blockchain integration may affect a company’s Web3 pursuit.
Moreover, Web3 games are having a hard time sustaining in the market. According to a new list dubbed Big Blockchain Games List, 410 out of 1,322 games were discontinued last year.
