Square Enix Indicates Plans To Dabble Into AI And Blockchain Games After The Rise Of NFTs And The Metaverse

• Square Enix’s CEO reveals plans to delve further into AI and blockchain games. 
• Matsuda believes 2022 will be an even better year for the ecosystem. 
• 2021 will be remembered as the breakthrough year for the new frontier. 

Square Enix intends to expand its involvement in artificial intelligence and blockchain gaming. The CEO of the firm revealed this in a new year’s letter to the community.

New Year’s Greetings

Square Enix CEO, Yosuke Matsuda, spoke about the rise of NFTs and the metaverse in his new year’s letter to customers. The CEO gave reasons why the company values the new frontier and detailing steps the company will be taking as they delve into it as well as other areas of interest like AI and cloud computing. 

Matsuda opened with the metaverse, arguing that the willingness of Facebook to rebrand as Meta showed that the new frontier was not a flash in the pan but is here to stay. He expects that there will be more buzz around the metaverse this year as people continue to embrace more immersive entertainment as well as the technology’s ability to bridge geographical limitations. 

The executive cited the growth of AR and VR technology, cloud computing, and 5G as positive factors that will facilitate the growth of the metaverse. Matsuda added that “as this abstract concept begins to take concrete shape in the form of product and service offerings, I am hoping that it will bring about changes that have a more substantial impact on our business as well.”

Matsuda also had similar sentiments on NFTs, noting that the past year, which he sees as the beginning of the rise of these technologies, has seen a lot of “overheated trading,” which has seen some NFT projects sell for shocking rates. Noting that this was not ideal, he expressed his belief that with time and with the maturity of the market as well as mainstream adoption, these issues would be fixed. 

The executive went on to address the fact that some in the gaming community are still resistant to the idea of NFT and Metaverse integration, as they are worried it will kill the fun of gaming. Matsuda revealed that the benefits of the technology are likely to lead to more creative innovations in the sector. 

“From having fun to earning to contributing, a wide variety of motivations will inspire people to engage with games and connect with one another. It is blockchain-based tokens that will enable this. By designing viable token economies into our games, we will enable self-sustaining game growth,”  he wrote

In a sort of test before delving into the space in October, the company launched an NFT collection tied to a franchise collection previously launched in 2012 called Million Arthur. The collection sold successfully in less than a month. 

Square Enix also invested in The Sandbox, a very popular Metaverse game. Matsuda’s letter indicates that the company will be more spirited in its efforts to break into the industry. 

With the rebranding of Facebook and high-profile sales of NFTs, 2021 has been a great year for the emerging ecosystems, with investors pouring in and play-to-earn games gaining popularity.