Square Enix formally adds blockchain games and NFTs to its 2022 agenda, making Yosuke Matsuda’s leadership accountable for turning a broad technology commitment into game plans.
The company enters a publisher field in which Ubisoft had already begun testing NFT items, sharpening the contrast between announced strategy and deployed features.
Second-order effects
Square Enix’s game teams and prospective blockchain partners must contend with an industry debate that had already produced internal opposition at EA, Zynga, and Ubisoft.
Other major publishers gain a direct comparison point: Square Enix’s commitment broadens the competitive case for blockchain experiments, while Sega’s later retreat from marquee games illustrates the reputational and portfolio limits of that approach.
Third-order effects
The contrasting publisher responses point toward a segmented market in which blockchain experiments, where they persist, are more likely to be separated from the most valuable game franchises.
Publisher adoption is becoming a governance question as much as a technology choice, with executive ambitions needing to align with developer acceptance and franchise strategy.
The trend: Major game publishers are testing blockchain-based business models, but are increasingly differentiating experimental initiatives from their core franchises.
a New Year's letter from the Square Enix president talks about new tech/concepts including NFTs, the metaverse, and particularly how blockchain games “hold the potential to enable self-sustaining game growth” https://www.hd.square-enix.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Square Enix CEO (Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest): • “2021 not only as ‘Metaverse: Year 1’ but also as ‘NFTs: Year 1’ • “Blockchain games have emerged infancy ... hold potential for self-sustaining game growth” • “I see P2E as a prime example” https://www.hd.square-enix.…
Square Enix Scares Fans With NFT-Based 2022 New Year's Resolutions: by @PaulTassi “All of this reads as alarming to fans and particularly tone deaf given the reception #NFTs have gotten in the wider video game landscape so far.” https://on.forbes.com/...
When I read this letter, what I see more than anything else is a company that evidently didn't learn the lessons of one of the last big monetization gold rushes in Japanese games, namely completion gachas and their subsequent banning a decade ago for being disguised gambling. htt…
This is not a good thing. NFTs in their current state are an unregulated mine field and this can only hurt gaming even worse then lots of systems all ready set to pray on gamers. https://twitter.com/...
Bullish for the space in general Mega bullish for whatever chain they decide to use Very bearish for boring 8-bit crypto native games that look like they were made over a weekend https://twitter.com/...
.@SquareEnix, one of the larger game companies in the world, is focusing on blockchain/P2E in 2022. we're experiencing the most massive fundamental shift in gaming since peer-2-peer multiplayer. don't fuck up this opportunity. https://www.hd.square-enix.com/ ...
lmao it's like Square Enix saw Ubi taking the shitstorm for all this dumb NFT shit and really just went “hold my beer” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Do not pay money for Square Enix games. Cancel your FF14 subscription. Look into piracy. Do not let them get your money until they release a statement condemning NFTs. https://twitter.com/...
2022 is going to be the year huh I left Square Enix 8 years ago, and began building metaverse tech startups 6 years ago. I remember talking VR/XR/metaverse concepts to my peers and people laughing at me. Pretty wild to see every one of these concepts become mainstream. https://tw…
“[Games industry] executives wrapped in a bubble where they keep hearing the blockchain and NFTs are the next things that will make them even richer, and the reality on the ground of gamers who want exactly none of that in their game” https://www.forbes.com/...
I can't believe how many beloved institutions were so cruelly taken from us in the final days of 2021... John Madden... Betty White... Square Enix https://twitter.com/...
Square Enix is like: “happy new year, (btw we're excited about potentially ruining video games in the near future, hope you had a good one x).” https://twitter.com/...
First developer challenge of 2022 (impossible): read this entire letter without a single audible groan or visible eye-roll. https://www.hd.square-enix.com/ ...