Japanese gaming and entertainment giant SEGA is venturing further into blockchain gaming with a new offering on the layer-2 blockchain network Oasys.
A SEGA licensed digital collectible card game, being developed and operated by Japanese blockchain game developer double jump.tokyo, is expected to be released on the Oasys HOME verse L2 network.
According to the Sept. 27 announcement, the theme of the Web3 trading card game is derived from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms mythology. It uses the intellectual property of the SANGOKUSHI TAISEN franchise, which was originally published by Tokyo-headquartered SEGA back in 2005. The strategy arcade game was extremely popular in Asia at the time.
Big Gaming Devs Eyeing Blockchain
Oasys is a gaming-optimized proof-of-stake network that offers a high-speed, zero gas fee experience to gamers by combining public layer-1 and private layer-2 blockchain technology solutions.
Oasys Director Daiki Moriyama said the ambition is to lead the mass adoption of blockchain games. Hironobu Ueno, CEO at double jump.tokyo, added, “we are honored to be a pioneering partner in building a new generation of games with SEGA on the blockchain.”
Oasys supports a number of major game developers and publishers, such as Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and Ubisoft, as its initial validators.
SEGA’s most iconic title is Sonic the Hedgehog, while Bandai Namco has developed gaming legends including Pac-Man and Tekken, Square Enix is behind the Final Fantasy franchise, and Ubisoft has developed iconic titles such as Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.
Speaking at the Tokyo Games Show earlier this month, Oasys representative director Ryo Matsubara said that leading gaming firms are looking to develop new blockchain games rather than port existing titles over.
Blockchain and NFT Gaming Expansion
As reported by CryptoPotato earlier this month, Epic Games launched Blankos Block Party, making it the first blockchain and NFT game on the firm’s marketplace. The U.S. video game development company behind the wildly popular Fortnite franchise raised $2 billion in April to pursue its Metaverse ambitions.
In more recent gaming news, leading blockchain gaming company, Splinterlands, sold out its new Tower Defense pack series pre-sale on its launch day last week, highlighting the demand for Web3 gaming assets.
Blockchain games and the play-to-earn model (P2E) exploded in popularity, especially in Asia, during the prolonged pandemic-induced lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.