Sega have announced they will be selling NFT digital content via blockchain technology by Summer 2021, in collaboration with double jump.tokyo.
NFTs are “non-fungible tokens.” Fungible means something that can be exchanged for something that is equivalent to it. NFTs (as the BBC explains) allow digital works to be one-of-a-kind, creating a form of digital certificate (the token) to verify it as such. While the data itself can be copied and shared, the token cannot.
This has fueled the value of NFTs with high value sales of the Nyan Cat GIF ($500,000 USD), Grimes’ digital artwork ($6 million USD), and Beeple’s record breaking digital art ($69 million). Even Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first ever tweet.
Sega explain (translation: DeepL) that they will “sell a wealth of digital assets, such as visual art from the time of launch, images and BGM used in games, as NFT* content for a number of classic IPs that were developed for hardware released by SEGA in the past and are still highly popular around the world.”
“This will be the first of many such sales,” Sega explain, “Starting with this, we plan to develop a variety of NFT content for current IPs and new IPs to be released in the future, and in the future, we will explore services that will enable users to effectively utilize and enjoy their NFT content.”
The collaboration also includes Sega Sammy Holdings investing into double jump.tokyo. Sega explain their high-hopes for the future of NFT.
“The NFT market is growing rapidly and is expected to continue to expand significantly in the future. double jump.tokyo already has an extensive track record in the NFT market, and this investment will further strengthen the relationship between the two companies. Through this initiative, we will accumulate knowledge on blockchain, and promote aggressive business development beyond NFT using blockchain technology, as well as enhance the potential of games and create new emotional experiences for users around the world.”
However, not everyone is happy with the news. Sega is currently trending for some on Twitter, discussing the environmental impacts on NFT (and the hypocrisy of Sonic the Hedgehog having pro-ecological as he fights off animal-trapping and polluting Dr. Eggman).
NFTs utilize a high amount of computational power. Cryptoart.wtf (via The Verge) report that the GIF of Space Cat has a carbon footprint equal to two months’ worth of an European Union resident’s electricity use. However, the website’s creator later took down the site, after it was “used as a tool for abuse and harassment.”
The Verge explains that digital artist Akten had analyzed 18,000 NFTs, and found the average NFT carboon footprint was lower than the proposal for Space Cat (still equal to a month of electricity for an EU resident). Akten then noted the website had been used to attribute the entire NFT marketplace emissions to a single NFT. Nonetheless, many still seemed opposed to NFTs on an environmental level.
Would you buy an NFT of the “first-digital press” of a game’s soundtrack or artwork? Sound off in the comments below!
