Users Must Be The Ones to Decide Whether to Go For NFTs or Not

Sega is at the forefront when it comes to arcade gaming. A recent interview with the company’s COO, Shufumi Utsumi, with a Japanese publisher Dengeki Online discusses blockchain gaming. Alongside him was doublejump.tokyo CEO, Hironobu Ueno. The discussion comes following the development of a new blockchain game by the latter company under the IP rights of Sega’s Sangokushi Taisen.

Technicalities Leading to Lower Blockchain Adoption

Mr. Utsumi believes in providing entry-level content to users. Blockchain might be a revolutionary concept, however, it is still a technology for the general public. Providing entry-level games may allow them to become acquainted with it. Popular blockchain games like Axie Infinity (AXS), The Sandbox (SAND), and Decentraland (MANA) require some expertise to actually understand the ‘play-to-earn (P2E) concept.

doublejump.tokyo CEO told the interviewer that the company is exploring ways to utilize blockchain technology. He supports Utsumi in the context of difficulty in understanding the technology. Moreover, he associates blockchain’s low adoption rate with difficulty in using it.

Both companies joined forces last year to develop the game in the aforementioned paragraph. Ueno said at the time, “We are honored to be a pioneering partner in building a new generation of games with Sega on the blockchain. Our efforts with Oasys are focused solely on creating the most user-centric gaming experiences, and working with our partners to revolutionize the world of gaming.”

We are excited to announce officially @oasys_games was chosen for the first blockchain game by @SEGA !!🔥
The game will be developed and operated by @doublejump_en, expected to be released on @homeverse_games !

For details, please check out our Medium👇https://t.co/tfCenVXo3L pic.twitter.com/BbzlTplsmQ

— Oasys | Blockchain for Games (@oasys_games) September 27, 2022

Providing educational content in blockchain games would help the users understand the technology. Ueno says, “I think it would be better to have content where you learn about blockchain, NFT, and crypto wallets as you interact with the content.” Pointing towards people’s illiteracy regarding notions like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain, digital wallets, and more.

As of now, only institutional players are acquainted with the technology. Even cryptocurrency users cannot be called well-versed with the technology, given that they are in the game for profits. Developers, however, are the ones familiar with it. Nonetheless, devs alone may not lead to mass adoption.

First Play, Then Decide

Even though crypto is the primary segment of blockchain, it has only managed to attract around 400 Million users since its inception. Social media giant Facebook (now Meta Platforms) did this in seven years, almost half the world is using it today. Ueno has another suggestion for this, “let people play for free.”

He believes in letting users have their fun first and they can decide whether they want to get into NFTs or digital wallets. Nevertheless, users did decide to have the experience, sadly, all NFTs got was the backlash from the gaming community. Ubisoft’s Quartz established an example.

Traditional gamers believe blockchain integration takes away gaming’s only essence, ‘fun.’ Moreover, they cited the negative impact on the environment by technology. The latter came from fans of Sonic The Hedgehog, Sega’s flagship product.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.