Sega has expressed a loss of interest in blockchain projects, in a new interview with Bloomberg News.
Sega Chief Operating Officer Shuji Utsumi expressed this opinion about the most well-known kind of blockchain games, play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity:
“The action in play-to-earn games is boring. What’s the point if games are no fun?”
Last year, we had reported on Sega’s plans to bring in blockchain, as well as cloud gaming into their SuperGame project.
Sega producer Masayoshi Kikuchi explained their interest in this way back then:
“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.
It is a natural extension for the future of gaming that it will expand to involve new areas such as cloud gaming and NFT.”
Now, it’s worth pointing out that Sega isn’t pulling out of blockchain completely. They have licensed some of their games for blockchain projects, but those will be made by other companies.
Sega has definitely seen the effect of the crypto winter. This is the general state of the cryptocurrency industry, where all crypto have seen their values plummet, around the world, and continuing to sink in time.
We will set aside any analysis of this phenomenon. Obviously, in the real world, this does mean there isn’t much reason to invest in crypto or blockchain at the moment, as you can only expect your money to lose value rather quickly.
While Sega is not interested in making those investments right now, it doesn’t mean they have lost all hope for the technology. Utsumi explains how they feel about the blockchain industry at the moment:
“For the majority of people in the video game industry, what blockchain advocates say may sound a bit extreme, but that’s how the first penguin has always been. We should never underestimate them.”
That statement may disappoint you, but the fact that Sega is indicating a loss of interest at all is a sign that they remain pragmatic in the end.
There was confusion when Sega first announced it if their Super Game project would lead to a wave of NFT games. It turned out Sega’s main interest was in reviving their legacy games to new markets.
If Sega jumps back into blockchain, it seems, they will still prioritize the desire to make good and enjoyable games over other possible priorities. You can take that as a sign that they may never actually end up getting into blockchain games ever.
