Sega Could Reverse Decision To Sell NFTs Following Fan Backlash

Sega could choose to avoid selling NFTs and halt its plans regarding Play-to-Earn schemes in response to fan feedback, the company has announced.

Back in April last year, Sega revealed that it had teamed up with game developer Double Jump.Tokyo with the intention of launching NFT content relating to the company’s classic and current IPs, as well as upcoming projects. Fan reaction to the news appeared to be largely negative from the off, as has been the case with most games industry NFT announcements since, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

In a recent management meeting, Sega’s leading figures have noted that “nothing is decided” regarding NFTs and P2E content, acknowledging the ‘negative reactions” shown by fans thus far.

“In terms of NFT, we would like to try out various experiments and we have already started many different studies and considerations but nothing is decided at this point regarding P2E [Play-to-Earn]. There have been many announcements about this already including at overseas but there are users who show negative reactions at this point.”

They go on to explain the need to assess what will or won’t be accepted by fans, saying that should the initiative be seen as “simply money-making”, plans could be scrapped.

“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. 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.”

The wording might feel a little odd – what company doesn’t make decisions that prioritise money-making above all else? – but if fan concerns are truly being heard, that can only be a good thing.

The news comes just days after Konami announced plans to host a Castlevania NFT auction, as well as a slightly controversial statement from Square Enix’s president regarding gamers’ current feelings towards the new trend.