NFTs
Olympics abandon Mario and Sonic series to explore NFTs and eSports
The International Olympic Committee has abandoned its partnership with Nintendo and Sega for the long-running Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series to explore deals with new partners, NFTs and eSports, Eurogamer understands.
As the in-person Olympics get underway in Paris, there has been some discussion online about there not being a new version of Mario & Sonic for this summer’s Games, for the first time in nearly two decades.
In an interview with Eurogamer, a veteran behind the series said that the decision to end the popular Mario & Sonic franchise rests with the IOC, which chose not to renew its licensing agreement with Nintendo and Sega, and allowed it to expire in 2020.
Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Olympic Games trailer – the latest entry in the series.Watch on youtube
“They wanted to look at other partners, NFTs and eSports,” Lee Cockerwho has worked on almost every entry in the series, told Eurogamer. “Basically, the IOC wanted to bring [it] “turn inward and look for other partners to get more money.”
Cocker previously worked at ISM Ltd, a sports marketing and digital media company responsible for managing the Olympic Games licensing in the video game world.
Over the past 20 years, six Mario & Sonic Olympic Games titles have been released, starting in 2007. Subsequent entries have been tied to London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, as well as the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.
The Mario & Sonic Olympics series has been very successful, although more recent releases have suffered a bit from the recurrence of the same sports.
With Nintendo and Sega’s mascots abandoned, the IOC went elsewhere. It wasn’t well-promoted, but this year’s Paris 2024 Games do have an official video game tie-in: Olympics Go! Paris 2024, a free-to-play smartphone-focused effort from San Francisco- and Seoul-based company nWay, which previously developed several Power Rangers games.
There’s a PC version of Olympics Go! too, released via the Epic Games Store, though screenshots show the same touch controls and basic visuals as its smartphone counterparts. You can compete in 12 Olympic sports, including archery, gymnastics, 100m track and field, swimming, and golf.
Olympics Go! screenshots. | Image credit: nWay
Oh, and there are also NFTs, of course.
“Join the excitement of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with nWay’s officially licensed Paris 2024 commemorative NFT Digital Pins collection!” the game website explains.
“You can claim a Legendary or Epic pin featuring the Paris 2024 mascot holding a flag and waving. You can add these digital gems to your collection via Magic Eden’s user-friendly NFT marketplace as part of Coinbase’s Onchain Summer event. Make sure you have a wallet that supports ETH L2 Base to secure yours today!”
The next step for the International Olympic Committee is to Inaugural Esports Olympics next year to be hosted by Saudi Arabia. Maybe it’s best if Mario and Sonic stay away.