Gamers say no to NFTs leading Sega to think twice

The acclaimed video game maker Sega may not introduce NFTs because of concerns that they are a money-making scheme.

While some consider gaming NFTs an ideal use case for blockchain and cryptocurrencies, gamers are beginning to question the impetus behind their adoption.

Skepticism about NFTs is nothing new, as represented by the reaction to the price of high-demand NFT artwork. Game NFTs provide at least in-game utilities, but some people still have the same cynicism.

Why are gamers saying no to NFTs?

In a recent video, YouTuber YongYea told 1.17 million subscribers that the gaming industry is working hard to “normalize NFTs.” But this is done without justifying how and why it benefits gamers, he says.

“Many game companies already want to normalize NFTs and need to provide some good reason, explanation, and examples of how this will revolutionize the game …”

He criticizes the promotion to Play-2-Earn, where games are more about the “investment opportunities” available to publishers for revenue, not about fun and escapism.

Sega listens to pushback. At a recent management meeting, Sega CEO Haruki Satomi said his company was interested in NFT experiments. But at the same time, Satomi acknowledged the negative emotions surrounding them.

He cited the need to appease regulators and cautioned against how Sega should proceed with the issue in determining user tolerances.

“We need to carefully evaluate a lot of things, such as how we can mitigate the negative factors, how much we can introduce into Japanese regulation, what is accepted and what is not accepted by our users.”

Satomi said he would not implement them in Sega’s products if he decided that NFTs would not provide gamers with specific benefits.

How do publishers proceed?

When it comes to influencing the mainstream, NFTs are on par with anything else related to cryptography.

In part, this is because NFTs can be songs, movies, and in-game items. Indeed, irreplaceable things can tokenize and represent everything in the real world. This gives, for example, a much wider range of influence than DeFi, where “no coiner” tends to be considered exclusively cryptography.

Linkin Park lead singer Mike Shinoda is not known as the authority on this issue, but NME has published an article about his views on the game NFT.

According to Shinoda, the term is synonymous with using gamers. He emphasized to publishers the importance of giving, not taking.

“Gamers don’t trust developers. They look at” NFTs “and think,” This is another way to squeeze dollars out of us. ” The winning game is not TAKE, but a game offered to the community. “

Further reflecting Yong Yea’s position, Shinoda added that fun should be a top priority.