Paris Olympics 2024 Drops Mario & Sonic in Favor of Controversial NFTs and eSports Instead
Digital pins have been given preference over the gaming icons.
The Summer Olympics are always highly anticipated events that have the power to unite almost the entire world and bring hundreds of countries together as their respective athletes try their best to get their homelands their due recognition in the realm of sports.
It is a tradition that has been going on for a long time, as audiences all across the globe look forward to the event that takes place after every four years, but thanks to a couple of iconic video game mascots, there has been one major tie-in aspect that has stood out to gamers the most. Unfortunately, after Tokyo 2020, Mario and Sonic are no longer going to be participating in the Olympic Games, as the long-running licensing deal ended four years ago, marking the end of a gloriously fun era.
The Reason Why Mario and Sonic’s Long-Running Olympics Journey Came to an End
While the rest of the world eagerly waits for the Olympics for the wide variety of athletic events that it features, Nintendo fans have been getting blessed with some extremely entertaining video games that included numerous sports in one wonderful package. The Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games tradition started all the way back in 2007, accompanying the Beijing 2008 celebration of athletes that took place in the following year.
Sadly, after more than a decade of being a source of excitement for gamers worldwide, the International Olympic Committee did not continue the licensing deal after Tokyo 2020, resulting in the Japanese-set event being the last for the two gaming mascots.
Although it was not exactly clear why the IOC decided to end things on such an abrupt note, a recent report states that the committee now wants to look deeper into NFTs and the inclusion of eSports in the upcoming editions of the Olympics.
The latter may sound like an exciting prospect for gamers, especially considering that eSports is becoming increasingly popular in recent times, but not everyone might be on board with the IOC ending Mario and Sonic’s Olympic career just for the sake of investing in NFTs with new partners.
The International Olympic Committee Is Reportedly Looking to Increase Its Profits
According to Lee Cocker, a developer who has been associated with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for almost every installment, the IOC’s aim was to bring the concept “back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money.”
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That does not mean that the IOC has completely broken its relationship with video games, as through developer nWayPlay comes Olympics GO! Paris 2024, a title that features 12 sports and various venues. However, the most controversial bit about the departure from Nintendo and SEGA’s collaborative series is its addition of NFT pins, and it remains to be seen how the general gaming community would react to these digital purchases.
In addition to the nWayPlay title, the Paris 2024 opening ceremony also seemingly paid homage to Ubisoft’s French-set Assassin’s Creed Unity, and seeing how ecstatic fans were on witnessing it live on television should serve as an indication that perhaps NFTs are not what players are usually too fond of.
The Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series marked some of gaming’s most influential moments, as it brought together two of the biggest corporations in the industry, putting aside their competitive differences and bringing joy to so many people. Mario and Sonic’s absence at Paris 2024 has been quite glaring, and fans can only hope that they make a grand comeback in some shape or form at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
