News game Pokémon Company could well realize one of its fans’ worst nightmares
Published on 03/14/2023 at 12:24
Share :
Web3 is still an unknown land for video games, even if many publishers seem to be looking into the matter. Last week, The Pokémon Company seems to have joined the adventurers. Evidenced by their latest job offer.
The Pokémon Company is looking for Web3 enthusiasts
The times are changing; men and Pokémon too. If we thought we were following the adventures of Sacha and Pikachu for a lifetime, The Pokémon Company has decided to part ways with it. It is also the Team Rocket, antagonist of the animated series, which separated there is little. Regarding its future games, TPC’s plans are also vague: besides the DLC The Buried Treasure of Zone Zero, nothing seems to be on the program except for the recruitment by Creatures of comfortable developers with the latest generation of consoles. And it is also thanks to this kind of job offers that we can wonder about the next initiatives of The Pokémon Company.
It is on the social network reserved for professionals LinkedIn that the company has published an offer for a Business Development Manager. A position of very high responsibility, since it has the ears of the management team and the president, but also according to the prerequisites to be satisfied. Twelve years of professional experience of which at least 7 in a company related to technology, video games or entertainment. But it is especially this part that calls out:
Thorough knowledge and understanding of Web 3, including blockchain and NFT technologies, and/or metaverse.
Deeply connected to a network of investors and entrepreneurs in the above technology sectors (Web3 and Metaverse).
The Pokémon Company therefore plans to take an interest in NFTs and is ready to pay between 140,000 euros and 209,000 euros per year for whoever will do it. Three letters that mean non-fungible token: a technology that allows you to become the official owner of a digital file, sometimes simply through purchase using virtual currency.
A concept that has been in the sights of video game publishers for several years. The most concrete example and the easiest to illustrate is the Ubisoft initiative. At the end of 2021, the French company decided to launch Quartz: a platform on which users can buy NFTs but also resell those acquired during its various game sessions with compatible titles such as Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. An idea taken up by Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch, with Fractal.
On paper, the concept seems ideal for a Pokemon-like game that focuses on collecting. Content creator Logan Paul grabs it and makes the promoting a game called CryptoZoo : the principle is to buy animals and creatures in the form of NFT with ZooCoins and to make them reproduce. Rare hybrid creatures can then be born and sell for more. At the end of 2022, it is the investigator specializing in cryptocurrency scams who investigates and accuses Logan Paul of having scammed his 23 million subscribers. The Youtuber will then withdraw his videos on the subject and apologize.
A case which is not an isolated case and which should encourage The Pokémon Company to walk on eggshells, especially since the whole industry seems mixed. The players have already pushed a studio to turn back while for some major players in the industry like Microsoft, Mojang or Rockstar, it’s a big no.
