SEGA halts in-house blockchain game development, leans towards licensing niche IPs externally, and rejects Play2Earn.

Game giant SEGA recently stated in an interview with Bloomberg that they are pausing the development of their in-house blockchain game. While this may seem like bad news for the crypto industry, SEGA mentioned that they are still willing to provide blockchain games based on their small IP titles and will continue to invest in this area.

SEGA Suspends Blockchain Game Development, Focuses on Major IPs

According to a Bloomberg interview, SEGA's Vice President, Shuji Nakaoka, mentioned that the company will not use its important titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Yakuza for blockchain game projects to avoid devaluing their IPs. Furthermore, SEGA has put on hold any plans for developing such games.

Bloomberg noted that SEGA made this decision due to the declining cryptocurrency market, which reduced the appeal for large companies.

Moreover, in the past, popular blockchain games often focused on "Play to Earn" mechanics, to which Shuji Nakaoka commented, "The behavior of 'Play to Earn' games is quite boring." He questioned the significance if the games are not enjoyable.

SEGA Continues to Allow Small IPs and Invest in Related Projects

Nevertheless, SEGA does collaborate with external partners on some niche works. For example, in September last year, the web3 game developer double Jump.tokyo obtained authorization from SEGA for "Sangokushi Taisen," using this IP to develop a strategic card game, with a recent promotional video released.

Furthermore, SEGA's fighting game "VR Kung Fu" was supervised by legendary SEGA producer Yu Suzuki in March this year and launched an NFT project on the popular Japanese gaming blockchain platform Oasys. (See the project here).

While showing caution with major IPs, Shuji Nakaoka mentioned that SEGA would still develop blockchain games based on its niche titles, with further announcements expected later this year. The company is also set to invest hundreds of millions of Japanese yen in related projects.

"This technology is still very useful, for instance, it can facilitate the transfer of characters and items between different games. In the long run, as the technology matures, SEGA is still willing to be deeply involved," Shuji Nakaoka stated.