Konami announced Thursday it plans to hire “a wide range of talent” to develop new web3 and metaverse experiences in a press release. Moreover, the company also intends to launch a new platform that lets users trade their in-game NFTs.
Konami to Launch a New Platform that Allows Trading of in-game NFTs
Japanese entertainment giant Konami said it plans to make a large number of hires to support “system construction and service development” of new web3 and metaverse experiences, the company wrote in a Thursday press release. The move comes as Konami searches for fresh talent to develop a new platform that allows players to trade their in-game non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
“We have been conducting research and development to incorporate the latest technology into games and contents, and plan to launch a service where players can trade their in-game NFTs (digital items) through a unique distribution platform using blockchain.”
Konami describes the new service as “a unique digital item distribution platform” where users can use their NFTs as in-game items, but also take part “in fan communities and events, and interact with other services and communities to further expand the user experience.” To make this possible, the Tokyo-based company is hiring talent for a number of positions including system engineer, programmer, project manager, and designer, among others.
The move comes several months after Konami bagged more than $150,000 from selling pieces from its ‘Konami Memorial NFT collection’ to mark the 35th anniversary of its horror action-adventure video game series Castlevania. One of the NFT pieces from the collection, Dracula’s Castle Pixel Art, sold was sold for over $26,000.
Crypto Winter Taking a Toll on NFT and Metaverse Interest
Konami’s announcement takes place amid a difficult period for the NFT and metaverse spaces as a broader downturn in crypto markets weighed on investors’ interest in virtual spaces. This marks a sharp U-turn from 2021 when NFT sales hit record highs.
As a result of the downturn, NFT sales totaled just $3.4 billion in Q3 2022, down 68% year-over-year. The decline is even steeper when compared to January 2022, when NFT sales peaked at $12.6 billion.
The bear market forced many metaverse giants to cut costs, including Facebook owner Meta, which announced a hiring freeze after its shares plunged over 60% year-to-date. Facebook rebranded to Meta a year ago to focus on developing metaverse experiences.
This article originally appeared on The Tokenist
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