Your guide to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Web 3.0
Pokémon on the blockchain? We’ve seen other developers try to bring the video game franchise’s monster fighting concept to life in Web3 with something serious misfires along the way, but The Pokémon Company itself hasn’t made any moves in the space yet. However, that may change, according to a new job advertisement.
The Pokémon Company – a joint venture between publisher Nintendo and game developers Game Freak and Creatures – posted a listing for a Rector for business development, a role that would advise the company’s management on strategy and explore new innovations. And the firm is looking for someone already entrenched in the Web3 world.
Specifically, the firm is looking for someone with “deep knowledge and understanding of Web3, including blockchain technologies and NFTand or metaverse.” But it wants someone already immersed in the space, asking for applicants who are “deeply connected to a network of investors and entrepreneurs in the above technology sectors (Web3 and metaverse).”
The listing doesn’t give a clear sense of the potential moves The Pokémon Company could make in Web3, whether it’s NFTs or a blockchain-based game. Decrypt contacted the company for comment on potential Web3 ambitions, but did not immediately hear back.
Broadly speaking, however, the listing points to a role that will help drive innovation at the 24-year-old company behind what has been called the world’s most valuable entertainment series. The Corporate Development Principal will develop an internal “innovation challenge”, for example, and explore potential partnerships with external firms regarding new technologies.
The Pokémon Company oversees the vast array of games, media and merchandise spun out of the long-running franchise, including console and mobile games, TV shows and movies, toys and apparel, and other projects and affiliations. Nintendo itself does not own the Pokémon franchise, although it publishes all of the franchise’s console video games outside of Japan.
Pokemon’s “gotta catch ’em all” monster collecting premise could be a perfect fit for NFT-based games or even collectibles. And in the absence of an official offer, other teams have tried their hand at such a concoction.
Pixelmon, the most famous unofficial example, sold $70 million worth of NFTs early last year before revealing artwork that was widely mocked – even the founder admitted that the art reveal was a “terrible mistake”. A new management team took over last September and launched revised artwork and an updated roadmap all in one try to save the project.
In February 2022, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said that the gaming giant sees “huge potential” in the idea of the metaverse— a more immersive and interactive version of the internet used for gaming, social interactions, work and more. However, he added that Nintendo is in no rush to make games for the metaverse.
Meanwhile, Niantic – the developer of the awesome mobile game Pokémon Go – is leaning into what it calls a “real-world metaverse” games based on augmented reality. Niantic has also created a platform that other companies can use for NFT-powered experiences, such as music metaverse game Elynixr from Pixelynxa studio founded by electronic musician Deadmau5.
