NFTs and their relationship to video gaming has become a topic of major interest over the past several months. In 2021, publisherUbisoft became the first to implement blockchain-backed tokensinto an online game by way of its new Quartz initiative. Both Square Enix and Electronic Arts announced interest in the technology, and now Konami, the company responsible for major franchises likeMetal Gear SolidandSilent Hill, is getting in on the trend with its new Konami Memorial NFT Series.
A suite of 14 non-fungible tokens is to be sold in an auction scheduled to take place from January 12 to January 14. Most of the collection consists of gifs of gameplay snippets from the first threeCastlevaniagames on various home computing machines, with the remainder being renderings of in-game maps and versions of art originally used inCastlevania: Circle of the Moon. Slated to be sold via the OpenSea NFT marketplace, those who make the initial purchases will have their usernames commemorated on Komani’s website.
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While many North American gamers associate theCastlevaniafranchise with the Nintendo Entertainment System, only two of the forthcoming NFTs commemorate the NES. Others specifically mention the Famicom—the Japanese version of Nintendo’s first game console—and there’s even a reference toVampire Killer, an alternate port of the game for the MSX line of home computers that forewent the series branding.
It’s crucial to note that, unlikeUbisoft’s Quartz and the slow-selling NFTs introduced toGhost Recon: Breakpoint, Konami’s Castlevania NFTs take a more traditional approach in that they have no use in any game in the series. Much of the controversy surrounding non-fungible tokens in the gaming space stems from their unwarranted inclusion in online experiences, and that issue is totally absent here. However, given their scarcity, Konami’s new NFTs are likely to go for exorbitant prices.
This isn’t quite everything Konami put together to celebrate the series’ milestone; in 2021,theCastlevania Advance Collectionwas released. A sequel of sorts to 2019’sCastlevania Anniversary Collection, the new release is a collection of fourCastlevaniatitles that originally appeared on the Game Boy Advance, and the package currently enjoys an overwhelmingly positive review score on Steam.
Recent rumors also suggest thatan all-newCastlevaniatitle may be in the works at Konami. This would mark the first mainline series release since 2014’sCastlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Quite how the publisher’s newfound interest in NFTs may affect the development of its forthcoming projects is unknown, but it’s likely that many fans of the series aren’t clamoring to see blockchain technology creep into the classicCastlevaniaanthology.
