TL;DR

• Web3 functionality may soon be coming to Pokémon games.

• The Pokémon Company posted a new job listing, calling for a Web3 expert, to advise the company’s leadership on strategy and explore new innovations.

• This could mean the Pokemon games could soon see: new in-game economies, continuity between titles, and Pokémon's two greatest economic drivers, combine.

Full Story

Adding Web3 functionality to Pokémon games feels as obvious as a forehead pimple on school photo day.

...but The Pokémon Company has been very slow to move into the space.

The good news: this might be about to change, according to a new job listing, titled 'Corporate Development Principal.'

(Which sounds dry and nondescript at first glance, yes).

But the role calls specifically for someone who’s already experienced with Web3, to advise the company’s leadership on strategy and explore new innovations.

Here's why this move makes sense.

In-game economies.

You catch a Pokémon → it's minted as an NFT → you can sell it on the open market (like a digital version of Pokémon cards) → every time a sale is made, The Pokémon Company gets a cut.

The player takes the lions share of profits for each individual sale, while The Pokémon Company earns their dollars through trading volume.

(Everybody wins).

Continuity between titles.

If each of your Pokémon is represented as an NFT, and stored permanently in your Web3 wallet, you'll be able take all of the Pokemon you catch with you into the next release, seamlessly.

(Instead of spending hours trading each Pokémon one-by-one into each new title, over bluetooth).

Pokémon's two greatest economic drivers, combine.

What are Pokémon's two largest economic drivers? Its card game, and its video games.

NFTs will bring the rarity and collectibility of the Pokémon Card Game, into each game title - all with a smoother trading experience. Instead of:

Sending your physical cards out to be graded → finding a third party marketplace to sell it on → organizing a safe exchange of goods and money.

...it can all be done digitally, in-game and in an instant.

Are we reading too much into a simple job posting? Probably.

What we know for sure is:

If anything is going to inspire us to buy a Nintendo Switch (for a third time), it's a Web3 enabled Pokémon game.