Sega, Square Enix, Konami & More Join Crypto Firms in Japanese Blockchain Gaming Alliance

The Japanese gaming giants Sega, Square Enix, and Konami have joined the New York stock-market-listed crypto exchange Coincheck in a new blockchain games alliance.

Per a press release from the Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association (JCBA) , the alliance also comprises the gaming firms COLOPL and Drecom.

Sega, Square Enix, and Konami Team Up With Coincheck and Others

Also joining the alliance is the play-to-earn gaming firm BrilliantCrypto, along with the Tokyo-based legal firms Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune.

The latter two are both members of the so-called yondai, or “big four” Japanese international law firms.

The new alliance will operate under the umbrella of the JCBA, and will officially be recognized as a subcommittee.

The JCBA also operates similar subcommittees for NFTs , Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and stablecoins.

The new subcommittee’s Chairman will be the Coincheck President Tomoyuki Isaka. Square Enix’s Keisuke Hata will serve as vice chair, with Konami, COLOPL, SEGA, and Drecom officials serving in executive roles.

Legal Issues

The new subcommittee said it will devote its attention to “legal, accounting, and tax-related issues.”

It will also “aim to make cross-industry recommendations” and “consider the development of games” that “use” aspects of “cryptocurrency intermediation.”

It will also work on legal issues on the matter of NFTs and work on “case studies” to further its agenda.

Japan is famous for its strict regulation of both the crypto and gaming sectors.

Critics, however, say that a “lack of clarity regarding legal regulations, accounting, and taxation issues” have thus far held Japanese firms back from developing blockchain gaming titles.

Powerful Partnership?

The wider JCBA launched in 2016. Its membership has since grown to 155 firms. In recent years, it has also taken on self-regulatory responsibilities and often petitions the government on policy-related matters.

Konami share prices on the Tokyo Exchange over the past five years. (Source: Google Finance)

Earlier this year, Konami announced it was working with the Avalanche blockchain on a new NFT trading platform .

Sega also spoke about both blockchain gaming and the use of NFTs in the gaming sphere last year .

Square Enix, meanwhile, has been pursuing a blockchain gaming-themed agenda for the past few years , despite pushback from gaming communities.