Classic RPG Series Wizardry Is Getting A Blockchain Game

If you happen to’re a fan of the basic Wizardry fantasy RPG collection, you may be questioning what’s occurred to the franchise and the place it is going subsequent. Properly, surprise no extra, as a brand new Wizardry blockchain sport has apparently been introduced by its present IP holders.

What do we all know in regards to the Wizardry blockchain sport?

A number of main gaming corporations are going all in on the blockchain and NFTs, together with Korean mobile giant Netmarble and gaming legend Atari. Now, it appears that evidently checklist will be expanded to incorporate Japanese firm Drecom, which acquired the rights to the basic fantasy RPG collection Wizardry again in 2020. Based on gaming analyst Dr. Serkan Toto on Twitter, Drecom considerably quietly introduced a Wizardry blockchain sport just lately, so it appears to be like like we now know what the studio is planning on doing with the IP.

Dr. Toto says that though the Wizardry blockchain announcement flew below the radar on Western shores, that is the place the sport is at present being focused. Cryptocurrency and blockchain expertise is very heavily regulated in Japan, making it troublesome for studios to promote blockchain-based video games over there. Right here, nevertheless, the foundations are extra lax. Based on Dr. Toto, Drecom is at present focusing on a late 2022-early 2023 launch date for the Wizardry blockchain sport. We’re not but positive what type it can take; it might supply Wizardry-themed NFTs, or maybe incorporate some form of cryptocurrency market. If you happen to’re despairing for the state of your loved one RPG IP, don’t be concerned; Dr. Toto says {that a} “conventional Wizardry cell sport” can be nonetheless on the way in which.

It is a bit ironic that the Wizardry blockchain sport is not focusing on Japan, on condition that that is the place the franchise at present has its greatest following. It is a dungeon crawler RPG collection that began again in 1981, chugging together with a stable following within the west as one of many early RPGs till it successfully crossed the pond, and would ultimately proceed to discover a residence there lengthy after its residence shores had left it for lifeless. Many Wizardry spinoffs have been launched solely in Japan, whereas re-releases like last year’s Wizardry: The Five Ordeals aren’t even out there within the English language. The primary Wizardry sport to be translated into English for a few years was 2020’s Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls, which did not precisely set the Western RPG market aflame. It will be fascinating to see if Drecom manages to make any extra headway within the West with its new Wizardry blockchain undertaking.

Gaming and the blockchain: a primer

As a nascent expertise, the gaming business is of course fascinated by the way it can incorporate the blockchain into its efforts. Many corporations, just like the aforementioned Netmarble and Atari, are going onerous on blockchain, however that checklist also includes Konami (due to course) and Square Enix. Different corporations at present trying into “the metaverse” (which is a obscure, nebulous time period with many alternative definitions) embrace Bandai Namco and PUBG: Battlegrounds writer Krafton, in order you’ll be able to inform, this can be a fairly large space of curiosity for large gaming studios.

In fact, there’s additionally been a significant backlash towards the incorporation of cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the blockchain into gaming. Firms comparable to Plug In Digital and British heavy hitter Team17 have been hit with heavy criticism after declaring forays into blockchain tech. Cryptocurrency video games are additionally at present banned on Valve’s Steam platform. This is not prone to be a problem for the upcoming Wizardry blockchain sport; it is prone to be a cell providing given Drecom’s focus in that space, so it would not must launch on Steam to get gross sales. Nonetheless, builders and publishers would do nicely to observe the general public response to blockchain tech, as a result of it isn’t going away or getting any quieter. We’ll convey you extra on that Wizardry blockchain sport as quickly as we get it.