Final Fantasy creator Square Enix is set to double down on blockchain game development despite turmoil in the cryptocurrency market. according to to a January 1 letter from the Japanese company's president, Yosuke Matsuda.
The letter, titled "New Year's Letter from the President," was intended to recap the company's major achievements in 2022 and explain its plans for 2023. Of the 15 paragraphs, seven were about blockchain gaming, proving that gaming of blockchain are an important focus of the company's investment strategy going forward.
⚔An introduction to SYMBIOGENESIS ①⚔
Starting today, we will start presenting Symbiogenesis, starting from the concept✨
Symbiogenesis is a new franchise from SQUARE ENIX, bringing real gaming utility ⚔ to 10000 collectible NFT artworks #symgeNFT #NFT pic.twitter.com/1ukBEgOmfv
— SYMBIOGENESIS (@symbiogenesisPR) December 21, 2022
Matsuda stated that “blockchain entertainment” is the investment field his team will focus the most on in the medium term, to which they have dedicated “aggressive investment and business development efforts.”
After summarizing the ups and downs of the crypto market in 2021 and 2022, Matsuda sought to make sense of its decline. He said new technologies often cause "confusion" but are eventually accepted as a normal part of everyday life. So if there is confusion in the crypto market, this should not necessarily make investors doubt its potential, he stated, adding:
“New technologies and frameworks lead to innovation, but they also create considerable confusion.”
Matsuda added that any technology that is capable of overcoming "social tides" will gradually become part of people's lives and eventually lead to new businesses and growth.
“After the excitement and jubilation that surrounded NFTs and the metaverse in 2021, 2022 was a year of great volatility in the blockchain-related space,” he noted.
"However, if this proves to have been one step in a process leading to the creation of rules and a more transparent business environment, it will definitely have been for the sake of blockchain entertainment growth."
It's been an amazing year of gaming and 2023 is looking even better!❄️
Here's a message from all of us at Square Enix wishing you a Happy New Year!
️ https://t.co/C9hdvi1GwZ pic.twitter.com/AOSRXdjizg
—Square Enix (@SquareEnix) December 31, 2022
Matsuda ended the letter by stating that Square Enix has several blockchain games in development and will announce more over the course of 2023.
Related: 2023 will see the death of play-to-win games
Square Enix made multiple moves in the blockchain gaming space throughout 2022. In July, it announced that drop Final Fantasy collectibles on the Enjin platform. In September, it joined the Oasys blockchain as a node validator. In December, Square Enix invested 7 billion yen ($52.7 million) at mobile game developer Gumi Games, to help develop mobile titles to play and win.
This recent letter implies that the company has no plans to slow its investments in the space in 2023, despite the turbulence of 2022.
Post navigation
Previous Post
Crypto Whiplash
