Sega's New Blockchain Game is Doomed to Repeat History

Sega’s New Blockchain Game is Doomed to Repeat History

Just this month, Sega revealed its plans to develop a blockchain game based on one of the company’s IPs. This is a somewhat surprising decision, especially considering how most of the gaming community feels about blockchain technology and, particularly, NFT gaming.

That said, it’s worth looking back at Sega’s past comments regarding blockchain and NFT implementation. The company has voiced its stance on the controversial technology, and it’s one of cautious optimism. Perhaps this means Sega’s upcoming game could avoid the usual pitfalls of blockchain implementation – environmental concerns being one of the main factors. But then again, fans are already disappointed by Sega’s decision. So, regardless of what the company does with the upcoming title, it might be doomed to fail from the start.

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In April of last year, fans caused an uproar in response to Sega’s decision to launch its own line of NFTs. This was a project in partnership with Double Jump Tokyo, wherein the companies would create NFTs of the company’s older IPs and sell them. Following the backlash, Sega took a step back from its NFT plans.

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In January of 2022, Sega revealed that it was experimenting with NFTs. However, the company also stressed that it “need[ed] to carefully assess many things,” among which were certain legalities and potential customer response. Sega also noted that if the NFT implementation was perceived as mere money-making tactics, then the company would not proceed with it. However, in the same month, fans caught wind of the “Sega NFT” trademark, which Sega apparently applied for in December of 2021.

By April 2022, Sega was in the spotlight again. This time, the company elaborated on its so-called “Super Game” project, which was in progress as early as 2021. As per an interview with VGC, Sega elaborated that its Super Game project might make use of NFTs and, thus, blockchain technology.

Sega producer Masayoshi Kikuchi even states, “It is a natural extension for the future of gaming that it will expand to involve new areas such as cloud gaming and NFT.” It seems, then, that the company is finished with its careful assessment of the new technology and is finally moving forward with implementation – for better or for worse.

Sega NFT Game, Blockchain Implementation

Now, Sega has announced its upcoming blockchain game, a collaboration with Double Jump Tokyo. The game will be based on the company’s old IP, Sangokushi Taisen. Sangokushi Taisen was an arcade game that centered around both physical and digital card collection. It seems like the ideal avenue to incorporate NFTs as players will be able to “own” their digital collectibles.

One thing worth noting is that Double Jump Tokyo is a startup that specializes in developing blockchain games. The company is connected to the Oasys blockchain, a blockchain developed specifically for the gaming community. It’s also described as being eco-friendly as its architecture makes it so the blockchain doesn’t consume energy unnecessarily. This is likely where Sega will connect its upcoming game.

Despite the lengths Sega and Double Jump Tokyo have gone to make a seemingly more sustainable blockchain-slash-NFT video game, the community still isn’t convinced – and for good reason. Blockchain technologies have been branded negatively because of all the scams and controversies attached to them. And even without all that, there’s still the withstanding problem of how detrimental it is to the environment.

Granted, the blockchain has found less harmful ways to function, such as using the Proof of Stake (which is what Oasys uses) rather than the Proof of Work algorithms (which is notorious for their energy consumption). However, that still raises the question of whether such changes are enough to offset the sheer amount of damage already caused. All that said, it looks like Sega’s upcoming game is doomed to fail, just like the other blockchain games from popular developers that came before it.

Sega’s untitled blockchain game is currently in development.