Sony Group is looking for its Sony Pictures and Sony Music units and a new global incubator to help it with a push into the blockchain and Web3 space.
“Web3” is a term that describes a vision for a decentralized internet that is built on blockchain technology and communally controlled by its users.
Last week, Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between the Japanese conglomerate’s former Sony Network Communications Labs unit and Startale Labs, a Sony company established for the express purpose of “building new network infrastructure using blockchain technology, said that it has developed the Soneium blockchain as the infrastructure network on which the company wants “to accelerate Web3 innovation.”
“While the Internet has contributed to improving convenience worldwide, it has led to the centralization of a huge amount of information and the economic sphere online,” Sony said. “Web3 makes it possible to decentralize that concentrated power. Today, Web3 faces two challenges: the current community of Web3 technology and services is limited to a few core users and there are numerous use cases that have yet to gain the traction to go mainstream with the general public. The creation of killer use cases is eagerly awaited.”
On Wednesday morning Tokyo time, early L.A. evening time, Sony said it was launching the “Soneium Minato” public testnet and an “ambitious” developer incubation program dubbed “Soneium Spark” to “catalyze ecosystem growth and accelerate adoption by leveraging its vast global reach and technological expertise across [the] entertainment, gaming, and consumer electronics sectors.”
The two initiatives will work hand-in-hand with developers. “While the testnet offers a robust environment for building and testing decentralized applications, Soneium Spark supercharges project growth through expert mentorship, cutting-edge infrastructure access, and strategic industry partnerships,” the company said.
It also highlighted strategic partnerships with Web3 companies that are set to benefit the push, including with Astar Network, formerly known as Plasm and a decentralized blockchain platform for Web3, service and financial tech platform Circle, Web3 collective Optimism, development platform Alchemy, The Graph, which indexes blockchain data and makes it more easily accessible, and services platform Chainlink.
Importantly, Sony subsidiaries, such as its film and music units, will participate in the incubation program. “We have opened our testnet as a first step to foster a fan community centered on creators that can connect diverse values through Soneium,” said Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony Block Solution Labs. “Let’s work together to create new value in Web3 toward a world where Web3 services are used in people’s daily life.”
Among Web3 apps that have attracted users include the likes of Flickplay, which allows users to unlock digital assets and create videos with them using augmented reality (AR).
But doubters have said that the sector has yet to prove its viability. X owner and executive chairman Elon Musk in late 2021 famously argued that Web3 “seems more marketing buzzword than reality right now.” Critics have also expressed concern that in a decentralized internet it would be harder to prevent crime and hate speech or warned of a blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs bubble.
