Sega Joins Blockchain Games Pullback as Crypto Winter Persists

Sega Corp., the gaming studio once regarded among the staunchest advocates of blockchain gaming, is pulling back from an arena devastated by the global crypto industry meltdown.

The company behind Sonic The Hedgehog and Yakuza will withhold its biggest franchises from third-party blockchain gaming projects to avoid devaluing its content, co-Chief Operating Officer Shuji Utsumi told Bloomberg News. It’s also shelving plans to develop its own games in that genre at least for now, he added.

The remarks, from an executive who helped launch the PlayStation at Sony Group Corp.decades ago, underscore a shift at the 60-year-old firm. …