Square Enix promises more NFT games for 2023 despite market volatility
Even after the crypto and NFT market crashes in 2022, Square Enix remains committed to making video games with NFTs and blockchain technology.
At the beginning of 2022, there were several video game companies that Konami and Atari eagerly pushed NFTs as a brand new potential mainstay of the industry, while others showed at least some interest in the idea.
Over 12 months later, though, and it’s much easier to count the failures than the successes. Many attempts to incorporate NFTs into video games were met with enough backlash that plans were canceled, Minecraft banned them outright, and even ardent defenders like Ubisoft barely talk about them anymore.
Of all the major publishers, however, Square Enix seems to be the only one holding on, already promising to announce more NFT-related games through 2023.
Around this time last year, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda wrote in a New Year’s letter that NFTs, blockchain technology, and games to make money were trends worth pursuing. A statement that many mocked as inaccessible and condescending.
His 2023 letter largely reiterates those goals, adding that Square Enix has “several blockchain games based on original IPs in development,” some of which it hopes to unveil this year.
This is despite the lack of any mainstream successes involving NFTs or blockchain technology. Not to mention the cryptocurrency and NFT markets that crashed hard midway through 2022, causing some crypto companies to file for bankruptcy.
However, Matsuda’s letter not only acknowledges how volatile the market has been, but also says that this volatility can be a good thing in the long run.
“After the excitement and excitement that surrounded NFTs and the metaverse in 2021, 2022 was a year of great volatility in the blockchain-related space,” writes Matsuda.
“However, if this turns out to have been a step in a process leading to the creation of rules and a more transparent business environment, it will definitely have been for the best for the growth of blockchain entertainment.”
Matsuda seems to think the worst is over, adding: “Blockchain has been an object of excitement and a source of unease, but with that in the rearview mirror, we hope that blockchain gaming will move into a new stage of growth in 2023.’
So far, the only NFT game project Square Enix has announced is something called Symbiogenesis. People were already disappointed that it had nothing to do with Parasite Eve, but there is also too little information to understand what it is.
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