In an investor’s Q&A earlier this month, Nintendo was asked about their interest in NFTs and the metaverse. The company’s response made it clear that fans should not expect Nintendo to get involved in the metaverse any time soon. Although, the company did reference Animal Crossing: New Horizons when speaking on the subject.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa seemed to disregard the subject of NFTs but said on the metaverse, “The metaverse has captured the attention of many companies around the world, and it has great potential. When the concept of the metaverse is introduced in the media, games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons are sometimes brought up as examples. In that sense, the metaverse is of interest to us.” While this seems positive, Furukawa went on to explain the company’s not quite ready to take part in the metaverse.
Furukawa continued on the subject, “But at this point in time, there is no easy way to define specifically what kinds of surprises and enjoyment the metaverse can deliver to our consumers. As a company that provides entertainment, our main emphasis is on ways to deliver fresh surprises and fun to our consumers. We might consider something if we can find a way to convey a ‘Nintendo approach’ to the metaverse that many people can readily understand, but we do not think that is the situation at the present time.”
It sounds like Nintendo is remaining cautious when it comes to the metaverse, perhaps unwilling to invest in something that hasn’t been fully formed yet. The concept of a metaverse has been floated for decades with games like the 2003 Second Life often being considered the first version of it. Second Life was a virtual world platform that incorporated aspects of social media in a three-dimensional world with users represented as their chosen avatar.
As the idea of a metaverse continues to grow and become mainstream, it will be interesting to see what companies decide to be the first to inhabit the new frontier of sorts.