Since 2007, the Summer Olympics have featured arcade sports games from the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series, but the Olympics currently taking place in Paris are the first exception in nearly 20 years.
Image source: Sega
Producer Lee Cocker, who had a hand in almost all of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, spoke to the portal Eurogamer explained why there was no new game in the series released in 2024.
The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) licensing agreement with Nintendo and Sega came to an end in 2020, and the IOC did not renew it for several reasons, Coker said.
“They wanted to look at other partners, (they were interested in) NFTs and esports. Essentially the IOC decided to have more control over the games so they could make more money from them,” Cocker said.
Image source: nWay
Although the Nintendo and Sega mascots were left out of work, the IOC found a new partner: the South Korean studio nWay, which released the free-to-play Olympics Go! Paris 2024 for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Olympics Go! Paris 2024 is smartphone-focused but available in Epic Games Store (not Russian). The project includes 12 mini-games, construction of Olympic facilities and, confirming Cocker’s words, NFT.
In terms of esports, the IOC last week formally approved the creation of the Olympic Esports Games. The first-ever competition will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2025.
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