Subj : Sega becomes first major business to realize blockchain isn't all To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Tue Jul 11 2023 20:30:03 Sega becomes first major business to realize blockchain isn't all it's cracked up to be Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2023 19:07:19 +0000 Description: Sonic the Hedgehog developer and former hardware manufacturers latest mastercrash in predicting industry trends is starting to worry the top brass. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Video game publisher Sega appears to be backing down from its intentions to make the blockchain , which no human being alive is yet to pitch a valid application for, a core part of its business strategy going forward, offering a cautionary tale to similarly blinkered business owners and tech evangelists who still want to wish the bubble back into existence. Youll have to forgive us as we enter the video game industry to bring you this cautionary tale in action, but were talking about business strategy here, and we both know the analyst shrunk down to microscopic size inside you is on the edge of its seat. The journey began in 2021, with Segas Q2 results for that year revealing that it was looking to create cloud-powered super games (us neither) and investment in new fields such as [ non-fungible tokens , or NFTs for short]. In April 2022, talking about these super games, producer Masayoshi Kikuchi claimed cloud streaming and NFTs were the future of gaming. The former being, in our view, unlikely, and the latter, we had hoped, a hilarious joke. Despite its President and and CEO Haruki Satomi claiming that the plans would be scrapped if the strategy was perceived as simple money making, and anything to do with the blockchain being just that, trademarks were filed for Sega NFT and Sega NFT Classics Collection. These, as far as we can see, never materialized. In July 2023, Segas steadfast belief in BLOCKCHAIN as THE FUTURE appears to have become more complicated. In a statement to Bloomberg (non-paywall story via the Register ), the companys co-COO Shuji Utsumi, once a staunch supporter of this strategy claimed that it would keep its highest profile franchises, like Sonic, or the delightfully bonkers Yakuza (something I very much imagine a white businessman in his sixties and an ill-fitting suit playing on his lunch break) well away from the strategy, resigning: whats the point if the games are no fun? The jaded scamp is getting there, but I think we can plum further. Whats the point if it, 'it' being video games, or any industry at all, isnt broken, but we try and fix it anyway, by introducing concepts and mechanics that very few understand and even fewer, if they did understand, would want them in their games. In a video game context, commonly when a wide-eyed developer talks about the blockchain, NFTs, or cryptocurrency wallets , theyre talking about a game where, by playing, you earn some form of digital monopoly money. Well, its real money, but also not really. Try not to think about it too much. You may be starting to twig that this sounds like a job, which you already have. Utsumi also claimed that he knew Western gamers were critical of these moves, its Web3 initiative. Yeah, you know, its just words, why not tune out for a bit, Bargain Hunt will be on in a minute. Stage 1: Denial Sega does not have the best track record for sound business decisions , and so its a bit of low hanging fruit, probably, to be using them as a teachable moment in our GCSE Business Studies class today. What Sega's latest saga tells us (watch it - Ed) is why you shouldn't jump into integrating any wanton innovation into your business strategy five minutes after hearing about it. It also tells us that, when told that innovation evangelism is a bad idea, to take that advice, in order to maintain a long-term revenue stream . In the wake of this, it will be interesting to see if other industry development companies, like Japans Square Enix, and second-hand embarrassments Peter Molyneux, under his studio 22cans, will continue on with their projects slated to utilise blockchain. Molyneuxs Legacy , both a terrifying noun phrase and the name of his next project, will, using this play-to-earn idea, be a blockchain business sim. Ars Technica reported , in 2021, that players had invested $54 million, actual, real, U.S dollars into fictional plots of land before the game had even been released. Legacy proves its true that a version of this strategy of death marching BLOCKCHAIN into your business strategy can succeed if youre perceived as an auteur with past glories under your belt. Molyneux is rightly lauded as the co-founder and public face of Populous, Dungeon Keeper and Theme Hospital developer Bullfrog Productions, in addition to original Fable developer Lionhead Studios. However, well assume that youre not, in fact, coasting on good ideas you once had decades ago, and you havent accumulated such good will despite having products in unfinished states for over ten years (Molyneuxs Godus has been largely abandoned on all but mobile platforms). While Molyneux may be able to ( and probably will) use the last of his industry clout to squeeze BLOCKCHAIN for every last drop, you, probably in a wholly different industry with nowhere near the mass appeal of VIDEO GAMES. For you, the bubble has burst, and if even Sega, who created Sonic the Hedgehog (which you have also not done, although one of his co-creators did just get sentenced for insider trading , which you may have done) are starting to think they cant drink from the well any longer, what choice do you have? And it is a burst bubble. Remember Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs? (Ask your grandparents.) Remember how [checks notes] Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, and Gwyneth Paltrow had them, and they were the next big thing? Their value has been reported as having crashed by 88% , this heady week in July 2023. Theres something here about ApeCoin, which I, a tech journalist, have literally never heard of. Ye cautionary tale of crypt-woe In all, because this is really winding me up now, there should be one of those logic diagrams that goes DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS TECHNOLOGY - > YES / NO. And if you say no it says DO NOT INVEST. And if you say yes it goes IS THIS TECHNOLOGY POPULAR, and if you say no it says DO NOT INVEST. And if you say yes it goes MAYBE with about ten asterisks, assuming, of course, that youll do your own research. Blockchain was three years ago, a fad induced by psychosis induced by cabin fever enforced by a literal plague. Move on. Therell always be some other cool way to make money, and it might just be tried and tested, with logic and reason to back it up. ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/sega-becomes-first-major-business-to-realize-blo ckchain-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .