New registered ‘SEGA NFT’ trademark may undercut previous statement
The CEO's recent statements tell one story, but the new trademark tells another.
During a recent management meeting, SEGA CEO Haruki Satomi made a statement addressing fan concerns of the company entering the NFT market. Although SEGA was previously all in on the plan, Satomi’s statements implied the company would consider backing down. However, the latest trademark filing published today by the Japan Patent Office tells a different story.
The filing shows SEGA’s new registered trademark for the term ‘SEGA NFT’ in Japan. Alongside the term itself, the trademark also includes a logo. As a result of this new revelation, some question whether Satomi’s previous stance still holds up.
Initially, SEGA made the announcement last April to create and purchase NFTs of older intellectual properties, such as Sonic the Hedgehog. Ultimately, a plethora of displeased fans voiced their opinions. In addition, other game companies like Square Enix and Ubisoft also received negative backlash for their NFT involvement as well. As a result, SEGA appeared to backtrack on their NFT push during last month’s management meeting.
Then, we will consider this [NFTs] further if this leads to our mission ‘Constantly Creating, Forever Captivating’, but if it is perceived as simple money-making, I would like to make a decision not to proceed.
Haruki Satomi
SEGA and NFTs: a broken promise or a consumer test
Although SEGA acknowledged the negative sentiment surrounding NFTs in gaming, the new trademark suggests their intention to proceed anyway. One possibility for this decision may be an effort to experiment with the idea. During the same meeting, Satomi teased the idea of rolling the plan out as an experiment to gauge fan reactions.
In terms of NFT, we would like to try out various experiments, and we have already started many different studies and considerations, but nothing is decided at this point regarding P2E
Haruki Satomi
Do you think SEGA’s move to go forward with the NFT trademark undercuts the company’s previous statements? Or could the move be a test to see how players respond? Let us know your thoughts down below!
Via VGC
