Konami Will Dive into Metaverse and Web3, Ready to Lose?

JAKARTA – The popular game development company from Japan, Konami, has reportedly entered the metaverse and web3 realm. Konami is included in the list of big companies that jump into the latest innovation. The company also plans to develop its own NFT marketplace.

To realize its ambition, Konami will recruit relevant human resources to develop “systems and service development” related to metaverse and web3. This information was announced by Konami on October 13.

Konami has been conducting research and development to incorporate the "latest technology" into the game and its content, adding that they also have plans to launch an NFT trading platform where players can trade their in-game digital items.

The company is well known among traditional gamers as the publisher behind the Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, Dance Dance Revolution and Frogger franchises. Konami is looking for several positions including systems engineer, programmer, project manager, designer, and director for its venture into Web3. Successful applicants will work on a “unique digital item distribution platform” that complies with Japanese guidelines for blockchain games.

This is not the first time Konami has stepped into the NFT world. Previously, in January, the company launched the NFT collection to celebrate the anniversary of its Castlevania franchise.

However, the big move to NFT by some traditional gaming companies has met with strong reactions, the most notable example being Ubisoft's Quartz platform which came under fire earlier this year. Last month, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stepped back from the company's enthusiasm for NFT, saying it was only in "research mode" so far.

Some gamers see the movement of gaming companies into the NFT space as a waste of funds. There are also environmental concerns over the proof-of-work mining process used to print them, although most of these concerns can be ignored as Ethereum, the industry standard network for NFT, has shifted to proof-of-stake.

NFT sales have slumped in 2022 in line with the broader crypto bear market. In recent months, NFT sales on the world's largest marketplace OpenSea have plunged 99 percent from a record high of more than $400 million earlier this year, Cointelegraph reports.

For your information, Konami is a leading game company that was first founded on March 21, 1969 in Osaka, Japan. Its founders, Kagemasa Kozuki, Yoshinobu Nakama, and Tatsuo Miyasako. The name "Konami" comes from the combination of the first syllables of the founder's surname, Ko from Kozuki, Na from Nakama, and Mi from Miyasako.