As more and more publishers jump on the NFT bandwagon, it’s refreshing to see one as beloved as PlatinumGames choosing to march to the beat of its own drum. In a recent interview, PlatinumGames CEO Atsushi Inaba and Vice President Hideki Kamiya had a few things to say on the touchy subject.
“We haven’t really been thinking about [NFT and blockchain]. I understand it’s a hot topic right now and it’s really starting to gain momentum, but the way that it’s gained momentum has been focused on profitability for the company, but with no positive impact on the creators or the users in any sense. So that’s frustrating to see happening,” Inaba said. “The people who are trying to promote NFTs and partner with gaming companies, their conversations seem extremely one-sided. ‘Hey, you’re going to make money!’ But how does it benefit the user or the creator? If I want to spend my time on something, I want it to benefit making good games.”
Last month, Konami announced that they would be selling Castlevania NFTs to celebrate the series’ 35th anniversary. When asked if he was surprised that Konami got involved with NFTs so quickly, Kamiya decided to go right for the jugular.
“Not really. If it smells like money, Konami’s going to be there in a heartbeat! I think what Inaba-san just said really resonated with me because I consider myself a user at heart, more than a businessman. It doesn’t have any benefit for users at the moment. In the future, if it’s expanded in a way that has a positive side for users, then maybe I’ll start to be interested in what they do with it. But I’m not seeing that at the moment,” he concluded.
The interviewer at VGC answered with a very pertinent question for Konami: “If Konami’s interested in money, surely Metal Gear Rising 2 could be a decent earner?”
“Well, you’d have to ask them, I guess,” Inaba answered simply.
