Fast take:
Sq. Enix offered its western arm to Embracer Group for $300 million in August final yr to concentrate on blockchain video games.The corporate partnered with Web3 gaming blockchain, Oasys, in September.Matsuda mentioned in his new yr’s letter that Sq. Enix has a number of blockchain video games beneath improvement.
Sq. Enix president Yosuke Matsuda is doubling down on the corporate’s commitments to Web3. In his new yr’s letter printed on Jan 1, Matsuda talked about the phrase “blockchain” 14 instances.
The gaming firm’s push in the direction of Web3 started in February final yr when it partnered with The Sandbox to deliver Dungeon Siege to the metaverse. Three months later, Sq. Enix offered its western arm and all of the related mental property rights to Embracer group for $300 million to concentrate on blockchain video games.
In addition to creating blockchain video games, Sq. Enix has additionally been investing in them. In July, the corporate backed Bitcoin gaming infrastructure supplier, Zebedee, in a $35 million funding spherical.
Within the new yr’s letter, Matsuda mentioned that Sq. Enix is presently most targeted on investing in blockchain leisure whereas acknowledging the volatility within the crypto and NFT markets in addition to the collapse of FTX.
Nevertheless, he believes that occasions that negatively impacted the Web3 business in 2022 would in the end have been good for the expansion of blockchain leisure if it results in regulation and transparency within the Web3 enterprise setting.
Matsuda additionally talked about that the Sq. Enix Group is creating a number of blockchain video games based mostly on authentic IPs, a few of which had been introduced final yr. In November, the corporate launched a trailer of its first NFT sport, Symbiogenesis, which obtained combined reactions, particularly from Web2 gaming communities recognized to withstand conventional gaming firms’ strikes in the direction of GameFi. Nevertheless, he stays undeterred.
“We’re enterprise preparations that may allow us to unveil much more titles this yr… Blockchain has been an object of exhilaration and a supply of turmoil, however with that within the rearview mirror, we hope that blockchain video games will transition to a brand new stage of development in 2023,” Matsuda wrote within the new yr’s letter.
Whereas its blockchain video games have but to materialise, Sq. Enix has actively taken steps in that path. In September, Sq. Enix partnered with Oasys Gaming to grow to be a node operator of Oasys’s upcoming “environmentally pleasant, proof of stake” blockchain.
The corporate joins a rising listing of world online game makers which might be exploring blockchain gaming together with Bandai Namco Analysis, Sega, Ubisoft (which has an analogous partnership with Tezos), Netmarble, WeMade, and Com2uS.
In July, the main online game developer partnered with Enjin to create NFTs based mostly on its common sport, Ultimate Fantasy VII.
Matsuda mentioned that the blockchain and NFT market was pushed extra by speculative buyers than players by way of 2022. He added that content material that was on the forefront was created based mostly on the premise that blockchain and NFTs ought to end in monetization.
“Nevertheless, within the wake of the aforementioned turbulence within the cryptocurrency business, there’s now a development to view blockchain know-how as a mere means to an finish and to debate what must occur to realize the top of delivering new experiences and pleasure to clients. I see this as a really helpful improvement for the long run development of the business,” he concluded.
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