Japan’s Konami seeks to hire talents to advance Web 3, metaverse, and NFT efforts

Japanese gaming giant Konami has disclosed that it is hiring experts versed in the digital assets industry as it looks to incorporate Web 3 elements in its games.

Per the announcement, the firm says it will be “recruiting a wide range of talent for system construction and service development to provide new experiences such as Web 3 and the metaverse.” The available roles cut across areas of Business Development, Project Management, Legal, and Accounting, with new hires facing the possibility of being transferred to one of Konami Group’s corporations.

Konami revealed that it had been researching blockchain technology and its role in gaming. Under the research, the gaming firm decided to create a non-fungible token (NFT) trading platform to allow players to trade their in-game digital collectibles for money.

“NFTs can be used in-game as items, as well as participate in fan communities and events, and interact with other series and communities to further expand the user experience,” read Konami’s report.

Applicants that scale through the hiring process will join the team in developing a “unique digital item distribution platform” in line with the Japanese regulatory framework. Konami is the name behind titles like the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Castlevania, Pro Evolution Soccer, and Froggy.

Konami is no stranger to NFTs, having made an incursion into the niche back in January by launching digital collectibles to mark the 36th year anniversary of the Castlevania franchise. The collection was made up of GIFs of portions of the gameplay, while the rest was made of the game’s maps.

The dip in NFT activity is worrying

Konami’s push into NFTs is coming at a precarious time for the asset class, given the decline in transaction volumes. At the start of the year, NFT trading volumes were at 17 billion, and the figure fell to $466 million in October, which represents a 90% fall in activity.

“The fading NFT mania is part of a wider, $2 trillion wipeout in the crypto sector as rapidly tightening monetary policy starves speculative assets of investment flows,” Bloomberg said.

The decision by some large gaming companies to launch digital collectibles has been met with deafening criticisms. Ubisoft’s attempt at NFTs Quartz received backlash from the gaming community, while Nicolas Pouard, VP at the firm’s Strategic Innovation Labs, defended the offering by stating that “gamers don’t get what a digital secondary market can bring to them,”

Despite the fall in NFT trading volumes and the lethargic start of Ubisoft’s foray, Konami can turn the tides in its favor by learning from the shortcomings of its predecessors.

Watch: The BSV Global Blockchain Convention panel, Blockchain: Data Power-Ups and NFTs for eSports & Online Games