Skip to main content

Castlevania’s 35th anniversary brings NFTs, not games

Konami has bit the bullet on the NFT craze the internet has been witnessing recently. Instead of celebrating its iconic Castlevania series with a new game or game collection, it’s releasing NFTs to mark the occasion instead.

An NFT, or non-fungible token, can be equated to a fancy digital trading card. They are noninterchangeable units of digital data stored on a digital blockchain. Their questionable usage and use of energy-draining blockchain have made them the subject of controversy with many audiences, including fans of Castlevania made aware of Konami’s latest venture.

Recommended Videos

The Castlevania NFTs feature various aspects of the series including game scenes, music, and newly drawn art. These different tokens will be auctioned off, each to one owner.

Here’s an example of one, which you’re free to right click and save.

A Castlevania NFT celebrating the game's 35th anniversary.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Konami is calling the Castlevania NFTs a part of its “Konami Memorial NFT” collection. The company describes this memorial collection as “an initiative to create art NFTs using beloved in-game scenes from Konami titles, and for our fans to preserve them for many years to come.” That implies there may be more NFTs to follow focusing on various aspects of its legendary series.

Fans of the Castlevania series have seen Konami avoid producing any substantial new pieces of media, with the last major product being the Castlevania Netflix series. This seems to be yet another left-field addition to products from the company that aren’t what fans are asking for.

Not surprising in the slightest considering Konami nowadays is more of a gambling company with a video game branch attached to it

— Mia Serena (@GBASPGamer) January 6, 2022

The Castlevania NFTs are set to be auctioned off next week, on January 12.

DeAngelo Epps
Former Digital Trends Contributor
De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…
‘It’s not fair!’ Zelda’s 35th birthday bummer showed us Nintendo’s favorite child
Link pulling sword from stone.

This past weekend marked the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda landing on NES. Fans have anticipated the milestone for a good year thanks to last year’s Mario birthday blowout which brought players plenty of exciting releases including Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. If Nintendo went that hard for the plumber’s 35th birthday, imagine what it would do for the most influential franchise in all of gaming.

Well, not much, as it turns out. Rather than giving Zelda the same red carpet treatment, this year’s celebration is far more modest. An HD re-release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is coming alongside some flashy new joy-cons, but that’s all for now.

Read more
New games and products unveiled for Mario’s 35th anniversary
super mario 35th anniversary switch supermario3dallstars sm64 screen 10 bmp

Nintendo, in a Mario-themed direct, announced a litany of games, products, and in-game rewards around the company's mascot for his 35th anniversary. The biggest announcement was Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which packages Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy into one game. The titles will receive a makeover with improved HD resolutions and 16:9 aspect ratios. The package will release on September 18, but will only be available in physical and digital formats until April 2021. It seems Nintendo will no longer make the game available for purchase after that date.

Nintendo is getting in on the battle royale craze with Super Mario Bros. 35, coming from the team that put together Tetris 99. Thirty-five players will compete in a never-ending, procedurally generated Super Mario Bros. level. Enemies defeated in one person's game will spawn in another, and players can use special items to try and get a leg up on the competition. The game will be available for free via for Nintendo Online members starting on October 1, but will only be playable until April 2021.

Read more
Assassin’s Creed Infinity has a new name and no microtransactions
Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows fighting an enemy. He's dressed in his samurai armor.

Ubisoft quietly confirmed new details on Assassin's Creed Infinity, a hub that's set to launch alongside Assassin's Creed Shadows, on the franchise's official Reddit on Friday. It not only revealed that Animus Hub would be the official name, but that the rewards would be free.

The post was in response to a datamined leak (since taken down via DMCA request) that purportedly revealed a lot of information about the Animus Hub and how it would integrate with Assassin's Creed Shadows. Along with revealing the new name, we learned that the Animus Hub would include a battle pass with cosmetics that can be purchased with Isu Coins, the in-game currency. This led to people assuming that there would be microtransactions involved.

Read more