These days, it seems like so many game companies are interested in NFTs. But while Konami is rushing into the NFT space, don’t expect Platinum Games to follow suit.
In a recent VGC interview with the studio, newly minted CEO Atsushi Inaba and game designer Kamiya gave their opinions about non-fungible tokens. As it typically is with the duo, neither of them couched their comments.
“I understand it’s a hot topic right now, and it’s really starting to gain momentum, but the way that it’s gained momentum has been focused on profitability for the company, but with no positive impact on the creators or the users in any sense,” said Inaba. “So that’s frustrating to see happening.”
According to Inaba, people who are promoting NFTs and trying to partner with game companies are doing it in a one-sided way, simply recognizing that there’s money to be made. “But how does it benefit the user or the creator? If I want to spend my time on something, I want it to benefit making good games.”
Inaba isn’t totally down on NFTs and acknowledges that they might become more important over time. “As content gets more and more digital, I do think that NFT as a concept will gain more importance, but I think that the early adopters are just seeing it as a way to profit as much as possible,” he said. “That’s not something I’m interested in being part of, to be honest.”
Kamiya seems even less sold on NFTs, saying, “I have zero interest in this subject.” For Kamiya, he considers himself more of a consumer and less of a businessman. “It doesn’t have any benefit for users at the moment,” he said. “In the future, if it’s expanded in a way that has a positive side for users, then maybe I’ll start to be interested in what they do with it. But I’m not seeing that at the moment.”
But as industry vets, was it surprising to see Konami embrace NFTs? “Not really,” said Kamiya, who added, “If it smells like money, Konami’s going to be there in a heartbeat!”
