Konami isn't about to let NFTs go, as per the company's latest official financial report. Whereas most game publishers and developers are succumbing to critique from the community and doing away with whatever NFT-related business ideas they may have had, Konami seems to be going the opposite direction instead.
According to the document in question, Konami is intent on proceeding with its plans to lean into the ongoing NFT craze even further. Though the company is yet to announce any specific plans to leverage the technology, the report makes note of using it to offer "commemorative art" that's based on Konami's classic intellectual properties.
The technology itself is only given a small mention as part of Konami's "Outlook for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2022," but the decision to mint and sell NFTs seems to have already been made, as the document specifies that Konami will make an "effort to preserve content that has been loved by [their] customers as commemorative art." A plan that seems to be a direct follow-up to the Konami Memorial NFT Collection from the start of the year.
As of early 2022, NFTs aren't well-received by the gaming communities. The outcries are so loud that even people and companies that had initially supported NFTs have backed down from doing so, as the example of Troy Baker reversing his stance on NFTs plainly shows. As Konami's report shows, however, not everyone particularly cares about what the community might think.
Still, gaming companies seem to be somewhat evenly split on the topic of NFTs. Whereas Konami seems to have embraced the idea for the time being, if its financial report is anything to go by, other studios reject them outright. Playtonic's statement against NFTs serves as a prime example of this being the case, but Team17 has recently backed away from its original idea of selling "environmentally friendly" NFTs as well.
Of course, Konami isn't the only major game publisher that is intent on doubling down on NFTs. Just last week, Ubisoft's executives went on record saying that gamers don't understand NFTs and the value they bring to the industry, for example. Though NFT outcry remains ever-present in online gaming communities, it's always worth keeping in mind that Konami and Ubisoft wouldn't be so excited about the technology if someone wasn't buying into it. Since Konami's first NFT-driven endeavor was seemingly successful, it's only natural that the company would take advantage of the opportunity.
Source: Konami