Since NFTs exploded onto the digital art scene, they've been the source of considerable division due in part to their impact on the climate. And the most recent storm is directed towards Sega, which has announced its intention to start producing NFTs in the summer of 2021.
Sega delivered the information to the world via the below tweet, and it's safe to say it did not go down well with fans. Citing the video game company's history of environmental messaging (especially in Sonic the Hedgehog), tweets began to flood in accusing Sega of hypocrisy and begging it to reconsider. Unsure what it is we're even talking about? See our guide to NFTs, which explains all.
In case you're not well versed in Japanese, the tweet reads as follows:
"In collaboration with double jump .tokyo Co., Ltd., we will start selling NFT digital contents that utilize blockchain technology around the summer of 2021."
Now, the problem with NFTs is that they consume a monster amount of energy in the creation process. This is partly because NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain and current estimations put a single Ethereum transaction at hoovering up a monster 48.14 kWh. That's about the same as a day and a half's energy consumption from one standard US household. And that's only the transaction's energy, there's still the actual production to consider, which has been likened to the equivalent to one European Union resident's entire energy consumption for two weeks.
Tails navigating the Ocean Oil Zone (Image credit: Sega)
People are angry because Sega has form as a particularly environmentally-aware company – in its game content at least. Remember Ecco the Dolphin? And the names of those Sonic levels? Oil Ocean Zone, Chemical Plant Zone to name but two. And there's the fact Sonic spends his time releasing all those poor little animals from the evil Dr. Robotnik, of course. So its fanbase feels betrayed, and has expressed as much in no uncertain terms.
As if anyone needed confirmation about thatApril 27, 2021
That same game released the year I was born.I'm 28 in June and in nearly 3 decades, I don't think the same people that were there to develop Sonic CD are still there.If any are... I doubt it's many of them or that their voices aren't powerful enough to sway a decision.April 27, 2021
However, there are some who aren't so quick to anger. Some suggest that Sega maybe planning to use another type of NFT – a BNB – which isn't so energy-heavy. Either way, given the amount of money changing hands for NFTs, it's likely Sega will enjoy a surge in revenue if it goes ahead with its plans.
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Georgia is lucky enough to be Creative Bloq's Editor. She has been working for Creative Bloq since 2018, starting out as a freelancer writing about all things branding, design, art, tech and creativity – as well as sniffing out genuinely good deals on creative technology. Since becoming Editor, she has been managing the site on a day-to-day basis, helping to shape the diverse content streams CB is known for and leading the team in their own creativity.
