Curious as to why there’s no “Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games” to tie in with the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics? Seems you can blame NFTs for that one, at least partially.
Eurogamer has spoken to a veteran developer behind the iconic series that’s done for the SEGA and Nintendo rivalry what the Games do for nations the world over, since its first entry in 2007, and found that the International Olympics Committee (IOC) is to blame for ghosting the franchise in favour of new ventures – specifically NFTs and Esports.
“They wanted to look at other partners and NFTs and esports,” former series developer, Lee Cocker, told the outlet. “Basically the IOC wanted to bring [it] back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money.”
As Eurogamer points out, the result of that change in tact from the IOC has actually resulted in a new video game, though it’s probably news to most (myself included). The game is called Olympics Go! Paris 2024 and is a free-to-play mobile and PC game from developer nWay. The game includes 12 Olympic sports ranging from golf to fencing, swimming, archery and more. It also includes (drumroll)… NFTs.
It’s a little less clear where Esports factors into the decision of the IOC to look elsewhere for 2024’s official video game, but we do know that the Committee has signed on with the National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia to hold the first-ever Olympic Esports Games there next year.
We gave the last Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, based on the 2020 Tokyo event, a 7/10 with Shannon saying, “Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a fun collection of games that absolutely anybody can enjoy. The story mode is delightful, although a little bit tedious and repetitive, but doesn’t detract from what is otherwise, a nice package.”
