The recent news of video game development and distribution giant Sega registering two NFT related trademarks with the Japanese patent office came as a surprise to some.
Although since early 2021 Sega has indicated an interest in selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the company president has expressed concerns over how NFT projects could be perceived by the public and the importance of aligning them with the company vision.
In December 2021, Sega president Haruki Satomi said that in regard to NFTs, Sega would “mitigate the negative elements” and assess “what will be accepted and what will not be by the users.” Anything new from Sega must be aligned with the mission, “Constantly Creating, Forever Captivating.” And “if it was viewed as “simple money-making, I would like to make a decision not to proceed.”
He also added, “In terms of NFTs, 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.”
But despite the measured remarks, two trademarks were filed for a “Sega Classics NFT Collection” and a “Sega NFT” logo. Though there has been no word from Sega, fans and followers are speculating about what the “Sega Classics NFT Collection” could consist of and how and when it will be released.
Sega has been around since the 1960s and is well-known around the world especially in gaming communities not only for its video game consoles but for developing some of the most successful video games in history, including Sonic the Hedgehog.
As NFTs rise in popularity, Sega seems to be in a great position to take advantage of the nascent technology that is fundamental to the metaverse and the future of the digital ecosystem.
Unsurprisingly, Sega is not the only video game developer to get involved with NFTs. Konami recently sold out its debut Castlevania NFT Collection and the executives of Grand Theft Auto and the gaming studio Electronic Arts expressed they were bullish on the NFTs.
We hope to hear more about Sega’s plans for an NFT collection in the near future.