Matsuda wrote in the letter that Square Enix has “multiple blockchain games based on original IPs under development, some of which we announced last year, and we are undertaking preparations that will enable us to unveil even more titles this year.”
Square Enix devoted a substantial quantity of assets to NFT initiatives in 2022. In May, the corporate announced that it offered a lot of recreation studios and franchises to Swedish holding firm Embracer Group for $300 million, noting in a press launch that the “transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.” The sale coincided with the large $500 billion crypto crash that very same month.
In November, Square Enix revealed “Symbiogenesis,” an NFT recreation that was met with backlash from players who had been anticipating it to be a revival of the revered horror collection Parasite Eve. (Square Enix was not alone: A slew of different main gaming firms introduced plans to work NFTs into video games, which had been met with equally tepid responses and controversies.)
Despite the “crypto winter” that’s seen falling cryptocurrency costs and the collapse of huge firms in the house, Matsuda expressed optimism about the way forward for blockchain video games, referencing the Japanese government’s initiatives to advertise Web3 companies, NFTs and the metaverse.
“Following the excitement and exhilaration that surrounded NFTs and the metaverse in 2021, 2022 was a year of great volatility in the blockchain-related space,” he wrote. “However, if this proves to have been a step in a process that leads to the creation of rules and a more transparent business environment, it will definitely have been for the good of the growth of blockchain entertainment.”
Matsuda additionally talked about that Square Enix would intention to satisfy the targets laid out in the corporate’s March 2022 financial results briefing, together with investing in blockchain firm Animoca Brands, establishing publishing arms in nations the place cryptocurrencies are common and branded NFTs.
“The market was driven more by speculative investors than by gamers though 2021,” Matsuda wrote in his new 12 months letter, referencing the crypto market. “In other words, the content that was at the forefront was created based on the premise that blockchain and NFTs should result in monetization. However, in the wake of the aforementioned turbulence in the cryptocurrency industry, there is now a trend to view blockchain technology as a mere means to an end and to discuss what needs to happen to achieve the end of delivering new experiences and excitement to customers. I see this as a very beneficial development for the future growth of the industry.”
NFTs and cryptocurrency as an entire proceed to be a hotly debated subject. The collapse of cryptocurrency alternate FTX and the next arrest of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried introduced intense scrutiny to the trade. Bankman-Fried, FTX co-founder Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, the previous CEO of Alamenda Research (a agency affiliated with FTX) had been all charged with conspiracy to commit numerous types of fraud. Wang and Ellison pleaded responsible; Bankman-Fried pleaded not responsible. In September, the White House stated that crypto asset creation could hamstring the nation’s dedication to the Paris Agreement, a global treaty to fight local weather change. Mining, minting and buying and selling cryptocurrency requires a staggering quantity of vitality, which leaves behind a significant carbon footprint.
Some online game builders have taken agency stances in opposition to implementing NFTs into their video games. “Minecraft” developer Mojang Studios introduced in July that NFTs and blockchain expertise shall be strictly forbidden from “Minecraft,” referring to each as exclusionary and in opposition to the spirit of the sport. The recreation developer Sam Barlow responded to the news that Square Enix was nonetheless dedicated to NFTs with a wry tweet: “C’mon 2023, stop acting like it’s 2022.”