We’ve got another classic dunk on NFTs in the video games industry, and this time it’s coming from inside the house and by one of the industry’s most notable shitposters.
In an interview with VGC’s Andy Robinson, PlatinumGames’ CEO/president Atsushi Inaba and vice president Hideki Kamiya spoke about their upcoming release Sol Cresta, their plans for the company, as well as how they feel about the gaming news of the current era. One bit of news they touched on was the popular trend of corporations introducing NFTs and the use of the blockchain into their plans.
The interview question specifically asked if PlatinumGames has any interest in implementing NFTs in their games. He says that they ‘haven’t really been thinking about that’ while acknowledging that it’s a popular topic at the moment that’s starting to pick up more with corporations. He continues by explaining that while it’s picking up traction, it’s mainly due to a focus on ‘profitability for the company’, but with ‘no positive impact on the creators or the users in any sense’.
He later explains that those trying to promote NFTs and link up with gaming companies seem to only have one sell in mind: to make money for them and the company. Inaba questions how it benefits the user or creator and reflects that if he’s going to spend time on something, he wants it to ‘benefit making good games’. Pretty noble stuff.
Robinson’s next question is, in my opinion, very cheeky. I read it and thought, “Andy, you salty dog!”. Robinson follows the former up by asking if Inaba and Kamiya were surprised to see video game publisher Konami get involved in NFTs early. Kamiya snaps back, saying, “Not really. If it smells like money, Konami’s going to be there in a heartbeat!”. A real ‘gottem’ moment.
Kamiya elaborates by saying he has ‘zero interest’ in the subject of NFTs in gaming, and then echoing Inaba’s feelings on it while explaining that it could be good if it was developed in a way that has a ‘positive side for users’ but is ultimately not beneficial for gamers at the moment.
It’s definitely not the first time Kamiya has been pretty tongue-in-cheek in response to things he thinks are dumb. Does anybody else remember the Very Sorry Stream? King behaviour. Very goofy.
The interview also mentions Scalebound, with Kamiya echoing what he’s been saying ever since Microsoft cancelled it: he wants to bring it back just as much as everybody else wants it.
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