Sony Group is looking for its Sony Pictures and Sony Music units as well as a new global incubator to help it launch into the blockchain and Web3 space.
“Web3” is a term that describes a vision of a decentralized Internet built on blockchain technology and collectively 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 created for the express purpose of “building new network infrastructure using blockchain technology,” said it had developed the Soneium blockchain as an infrastructure network on which the company wants to “accelerate Web3 innovation.”
“While the Internet has helped improve user-friendliness around the world, it has also led to the centralization of a huge amount of information and the online economic sphere,” Sony said. “Web3 enables the decentralization of this concentrated power. Today, Web3 faces two challenges: the current community of Web3 technology and services is limited to a few core users, and many use cases have yet to gain mainstream popularity. The creation of revolutionary use cases is eagerly awaited.”
On Wednesday morning Tokyo time, early evening Los Angeles time, Sony announced the launch of the public test network “Soneium Minato” and an “ambitious” developer incubation program called “Soneium Spark” to “catalyze ecosystem growth and accelerate adoption by leveraging its extensive global reach and technology expertise in the entertainment, gaming, and consumer electronics industries.”
Both initiatives will work hand-in-hand with developers. “While the testnet provides a robust environment for building and testing decentralized applications, Soneium Spark powers project growth through expert mentorship, access to cutting-edge infrastructure, and strategic industry partnerships,” the company said.
He also highlighted strategic partnerships with Web3 companies that stand to benefit from the push, including Astar Network, formerly known as Plasm and a decentralized blockchain platform for Web3, financial technology and services platform Circle, Web3 collective Optimism, development platform Alchemy, The Graph, which indexes blockchain data and makes it more easily accessible, and services platform Chainlink.
It is important to note that Sony subsidiaries, such as its film and music units, will participate in the incubation program. “We opened our test network as a first step to foster a creator-centric fan community that can connect diverse values through Soneium,” said Jun Watanabe, President 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 lives.”
Among the Web3 applications that have attracted users is Flickplay, which allows users to unlock digital assets and create videos with them using augmented reality (AR).
But skeptics say the industry has yet to prove its viability. Elon Musk, X’s owner and executive chairman, said in late 2021 that Web3 “seems more like a buzzword than reality right now.” Critics have also expressed concern that a decentralized internet would make it harder to prevent crime and hate speech, or warned of a bubble around blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs.
