Konami is auctioning 14 unique pieces of Castlevania artwork as NFTs to mark the series’ 35th anniversary, which has gone down about as well as you would imagine. The content up for auction includes various game scenes, background music, and freshly drawn visuals of various scenes throughout Castlevania’s history. The auction kicks off on NFT marketplace OpenSea on January 12.
As an added incentive, Konami says that those who have purchased an NFT will have their nickname plastered to its website from mid-February to the end of 2022, assuming your nickname is “socially acceptable”. Konami won’t accept any cancellation of transactions, returns, or refunds “under any circumstances”.
Konami also says you can re-sell or transfer your NFT to different platforms, though it takes “no responsibilities for any secondary transactions”. That’s particularly worth noting as word of numerous NFT scams and hacks is never too far away from the news right now. The company also clarifies that purchasing the NFT does not give you intellectual property rights – copyrights, trademark rights, and that sort of stuff – concerning the data linked to the NFT. That means you can’t use it for commercial purposes.
It doesn’t look like the company is done selling NFTs, either. The wave of Castlevania crypto bobbins was revealed alongside Konami Memorial NFT, which the company says is an “initiative to create art NFTs using beloved in-game scenes from Konami titles”. Konami also says that it might sell similar Castlevania NFTs in the future, though it won’t have the “exact same data”.
Konami also mentions that setting yourself up to bid in the auction requires the controversial cryptocurrency Ethereum. One of the more significant conversations around cryptocurrency – Ethereum, particularly – revolves around what some argue is its negative effect on the environment. Ethereum promised to slash its carbon emissions in May of last year, though CNBC reports that cryptocurrency prices took a hit in December, with investors pointing to the Omicron COVID-19 variant and climate change concerns.
The Castlevania NFTs have been poorly received so far, with fans either raising concerns or simply clowning on them by right-clicking them and sharing the art online.
https://t.co/mo50UDhXJP pic.twitter.com/nmjTcLV2iy
— Tamoor Hussain (@tamoorh) January 6, 2022
Don’t tell Konami, but with my elite hacker skills I managed to steal one of the Castlevania NFT’s. from castlevania
https://t.co/lWEUNoUFvm pic.twitter.com/CWB2NCjzFW
— Barry✨『ＥＰＯＣＨ』 (@nostoppingepoch) January 6, 2022
If you’ve been out of the loop, NFTs have been landing in the videogame industry with a collective thud since last year. Ubisoft decided to stick them in Ghost Recon Breakpoint, prompting a French union to call NFTs “harmful and worthless” for games. STALKER 2 devs backtracked on including NFTs following backlash from fans. Steam also banned games that use blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs. Despite all that, the NFT announcements just keep on coming.