Final Fantasy Game Developer Doubles Down on Blockchain Games 

Despite the turmoil in the NFT and cryptocurrency market, Final Fantasy developer Square Enix reveals further plans on blockchain game production, according to a Jan. 1 letter from the Japanese company's president, Yosuke Matsuda.

The letter, titled "A New Year's Letter from the President," sought to summarize the company's major achievements in 2022 and outline its goals for 2023. Seven of the 15 paragraphs were on blockchain gaming, indicating that blockchain gaming would be a significant emphasis of the company's investing strategy in the future.

Matsuda claimed that "blockchain entertainment" is the investment sector that his team would be most focused on in the medium future and that they have committed "aggressive investment and company development efforts" to this end.

Matsuda also talked about the crypto market's collapse after summing its ups and downs in 2021 and 2022. According to him, new technologies often generate "confusion" but eventually become accepted as a regular part of daily life. So, even though the crypto market is volatile, investors should not dismiss its potential, according to him. 

“New technologies and frameworks lead to innovation, but they also create considerable confusion,” said Yosuke Matsuda. He further added, “following the excitement and exhilaration that surrounded NFTs and the metaverse in 2021, 2022 was a year of great volatility in the blockchain-related space, however, if this proves to have been a step in a process that leads to the creation of rules and a more transparent business environment, it will definitely have been for the good of the growth of blockchain entertainment.”

Matsuda concluded the letter by adding that Square Enix is working on several blockchain games and would be unveiling more in 2023.

Throughout 2022, Square Enix made a number of efforts in the blockchain gaming market. It first delivered an open letter drawing its plans for the blockchain in January. Later in July, it teamed up with blockchain game developer ENJIN to release NFTs based on the Final Fantasy series. Last but not least, last month Square Enix invested 7 billion yen, or about $53 million, in the blockchain games company Gumi to help develop mobile play-to-earn titles.

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