Sega has indicated that it’ll put its plans for gaming NFTs on hold if they aren’t well-received by its community. In a recent management meeting transcribed by TweakTown, Sega’s management cited backlash received by companies like Ubisoft and Square Enix, with CEO Haruki Satomi stating that he’d like to avoid such a scenario.
Why Sega’s cautious about gaming NFTs
Besides negative reactions from players, Sega is concerned about how gaming NFTs will be perceived by Japanese regulatory authorities, and if they’ll fit into its vision of “Constantly Creating, Forever Captivating.”
“We need to carefully assess many things such as how we can mitigate the negative elements, how much we can introduce this within the Japanese regulation, what will be accepted and what will not be by the users,” Satomi told stakeholders. “Then, we will consider this further if this leads to our mission ‘Constantly Creating, Forever Captivating,’ but if it is perceived as simple money-making, I would like to make a decision not to proceed.”
Opinion: Sega has the right approach to gaming NFTs
Zarmena writes… Both Ubisoft and Square Enix seem to be diving head-first into token economies and the universal criticism they’re receiving isn’t without good reason. As I’ve said before, Square Enix’s new year’s letter reads like a bizarre, needless promotion of NFTs and Ubisoft seems to have randomly injected them into a widely-panned game. Sega has taken a more cautious approach (the management meeting took place before Konami’s NFT fiasco) and appears willing to put its plans on hold if NFTs are seen as merely a money-making tactic, which is the right away to go.
In other news, Sega delayed Sonic Frontiers to improve its quality. Meanwhile, Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones continues to lose staff.