Reggie Fils-Aimé is best known as the jolly and bombastic former president and COO of Nintendo of America from 2006 to 2019. He is credited to be a major figure in revitalizing Nintendo’s image as a major contender in the gaming industry. During a recent interview at SXSW 2022, Fils-Aimé made it known that he was a “believer” in blockchain technology but only if it is “good for the player.”
During the interview, Fils-Aimé talks about different aspects of gaming in today’s world including the metaverse, his thoughts in some recent scandals in the gaming industry, and even his background and what he’s been doing since he retired in 2019.
Fils-Aimé was also asked about his ideas on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in gaming. He stated that he is “a believer of blockchain technology” adding that it was “compelling technology.” He also stated that he is “a believer in play-to-own” speaking as a gamer himself:
Fils-Aimé says there are many gamers who invest several hours in a game and when it’s time to move on to a new game, he asks “wouldn’t it be great if I can monetize the hours I have put in?” He gives the example of selling an island one has built on Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Switch and believes blockchain technology embedded in the code of a game allows players to do that.
However Fils-Aimé, states that while he is a believer in blockchain technology and what it can do for owning assets in a game and being able to do what you want with it, it has to make sense for the player. Fils-Aimé says it can’t be just something from the developers and has no input from their community. It simply cannot be something that the developers dangle in front of gamers saying that this is interesting and trying to monetize it. It should be something gamers benefit from.
“I say that in the context of it needs to make sense for the player.”, Fils-Aimé said.
“It cant just be an approach of the developer that its interesting or its a way for them as a development entity to make more money.
In the end it has to be good for the player.”
This isn’t the first time that a big executive has come out and showed support for blockchain technology in gaming. Big budget studios such as Ubisoft and Square Enix have stated their desire to integrate the technology for future releases despite heavy backlash from the community. Even SEGA has expressed their desire to integrate blockchain in future releases despite the negative reception they have received so far.
While mainstream gamers are still adamantly against blockchain, more and more game producers and developers are embracing the technology. With big names such as Fils-Aimé advocating for a way to do integrate the technology the right way, hopefully many other companies will start to take notice and opinions may start to change on the matter.