PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 01: Gamers play the video game ‘Final Fantasy XIV online’ developed and … [+]
Gaming developer and media company, Square Enix, is set to create a robust ecosystem utilizing blockchain and NFTs across its gaming assets as part of its ongoing business strategy in 2022 and beyond.
The company behind the film and gaming series Final Fantasy recently transferred the assets of its other mainstream franchise, Tomb Raider, to Sweden-based Embracer Group AB for $300 million. According to its latest earnings report, Square Enix currently has $3 billion in assets under management.
In regards to its web3 plans, the company wants to adopt a stringent regulatory framework to allow for NFTs and its token system to scale across numerous games.
Also stated in its report was how the developer trialed NFTs on the Shi-San-Sei Million Arthur game earlier this year.
The successful adoption of the NFTs amongst gamers will see a growth in the initiative being rolled out across other games. Animoca Brands, a venture capital firm specializing in gaming and web3, is partnering with Square Enix to develop its plans.
Talking to Cointelegraph, Animoca’s executive chairman Yat Siu said about the partnership and the future, “Square Enix has already been talking about the potential of blockchain games for a long time, so it gets it better than most of the traditional gaming giants out there.”
Current innovation of blockchain-based games
Square Enix is not the only firm that is pushing into the web3 space across gaming. New game Samurai Saga is a blockchain-based game that lets users purchase NFTs to gain access to their play-to-earn game. The team behind the game are also creating an online multiplayer option where players will be able to earn rewards.
Dino Tomic, an artist on the project, said on the capabilities of web3 in the current gaming market:
“Most NFT projects in the space promise to deliver a game but most are yet to truly do one. Some have released a play-to-earn game that is in 8-bits.”
“The play-to-earn model isn’t new, but we’ve seen a gap between online multiplayer games and true play-to-earn, so the team is devoted to closing that gap by creating a multiplayer play-to-earn game with surreal graphics and having users play the ultimate gaming experience.”
A live demo screenshot of Samurai Saga gameplay.
There is no shortage of projects and games entering the marketplace to cut through. With several projects however not delivering on their concepts, skepticism is now rife.
Though Samurai Saga has delivered a playable demo to combat this, attracting new users remains a challenge. Something that will most likely not apply to a company like Square Enix with its profitability and market recognition.
Tomic concluded, “We are striving to release the full game at the end of 2022 where users will have a full multiplayer game experience while playing to earn. At the same time, we want to focus on shortening the gap to bring gamers from web2 into the web3 space and vice versa to truly build a full play-to-earn game in the gaming industry.”
