The Olympics has moved on from Mario and Sonic
![Screenshot from Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 featuring Mario and Sonic high-fiving.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UAKBtLJcdw7pQMofTy_kmW1kRBQ=/136x0:1597x974/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73491475/Screenshot_2024_07_30_at_2.54.25_PM.0.png)
For almost 20 years, Nintendo and Sega have released Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games to coincide with the international sporting event. But now, according to a report in Eurogamer, that tradition is at an end. In 2020, the IOC made the decision to not renew the game’s licensing deal, ending a run of games that’s covered most Summer and Winter Olympic games since 2007.
“Basically the IOC wanted to bring [the licensing] back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money,” Lee Cocker, a developer who worked on the Mario & Sonic franchise, told Eurogamer.
Strangely though, those “other partners” are NFTs and esports — products that are not currently known for their money-making possibilities. To...