Square Enix doubles down on misguided NFT projects in 2023

Square Enix is doubling down on NFT in 2023, the company’s president revealed in his New Year’s Letter for 2023. This echoes the company’s direction set in last year’s letter that caused quite a stir in the gaming community.

A yearly tradition for Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda, Square Enix published on its blog his New Year’s Letter for 2023 on January 1st. A developing new tradition is the company’s somewhat stubborn approach toward blockchain technology and NFT in video games.

In his letter, Matsuda discussed the company’s medium-term business strategy process, which was fleshed out in the company’s March 2022 Financial Results Briefing Session. Square Enix’s business strategies for the medium-term are distilled in three steps: (1) Strengthening [Square Enix’s] IP ecosystem, (2) Taking on new domains, and (3) Optimizing business structure for COVID world. The second strategy involves initiatives to promote Blockchain Entertainment domain, which is where the NFT systems come in.

” I think it is fair to say that blockchain gained significant recognition as a field in 2022,” says Matsuda. “As evidenced by “Web 3.0” becoming a firmly established buzzword among businesspeople. However, the year also saw volatility in the cryptocurrency and NFT (non-fungible token) markets that tracked the dramatic shifts in the macroeconomy described above. The latter half of the year in particular produced a somber string of news stories with blockchain connections, including the scandalous bankruptcy filing of FTX in November.”

It’s refreshing to see an NFT proponent acknowledge how blockchain technology has been mired in controversies in the previous year. However, Matsuda’s takeaway was rather grim for fans who would like NFTs to stay away from video games as far as possible. Matsuda quoted that the attention received by blockchain events over 2022 and the creation of Japan’s “Priority Policy Program for Realizing a Digital Society” as good indicators for the future of blockchain technology and NFTs.

“New technologies and frameworks lead to innovation, but they also create considerable confusion,” says Matsuda. “Having ridden out such societal tides, some such technologies and frameworks gradually become part of people’s lives, eventually giving rise to new businesses and growth.”

While blockchain technology and NFT’s usability and the benefits it can bring to people is definitely something worth exploring, the gaming community has been vocally opposed to NFT products being produced using video game titles and franchises that they love. Hence, the Square Enix NFT projects like the Symbiogenesis project have been met with negative reception from fans. While Matsuda did not reveal what new NFT projects Square Enix will explore in 2023, he did say that the company is not looking into making a Final Fantasy NFT game any time soon. However, the looming prospect of an NFT project ever touching Final Fantasy is something that fans dread. Hopefully, that day never comes.