The NFT (non-fungible token) train keeps rolling into the mainstream, with more big names in the entertainment and gaming world hopping on, now including Japanese giant Square Enix.
After a highly successful toe dip into the NFT market, Square Enix says it’s now looking at a “robust entry into blockchain games”.
The home of the hugely popular gaming franchises Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider, among several others, made a test move into NFT sales back in March, via a partnership with blockchain firm Double Jump.tokyo.
This resulted in a series of collectible cards based on a Square Enix gaming and Anime franchise called Million Arthur, with the NFT cards swiftly selling out when they finally launched on October 14.
This success seems to be all the proof the gaming firm needs to make a further foray into NFTs, with the company revealing it’s now working on a “full commercialisation stage” for tokenising its licensed content. This also includes a move into play-to-earn gaming.
“Games are further expanding from centralised into decentralised formats,” reads a recent Square Enix briefing session report. “In addition to the sort of content creation we have traditionally engaged in, we will focus on blockchain games premised on token economies as a form of decentralised content.”
Whether its blockchain-based content and tokenomics will extend to its existing massive games and franchises, such as the upcoming Final Fantasy 16, below, remains to be seen.
In the meantime, though, Square Enix has joined a growing list of notable gaming studios making it clear that NFTs and play-to-earn models are set to form an important part of future strategies.
Some of the biggest companies recently pumping up the sub-sector include: Ubisoft (which has invested into crypto-gaming powerhouse Animoca Brands), Electronic Arts (it’s “the future of our industry”) and Take-Two Interactive, which is the owner of Rockstar Games – of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead fame.
Who will be next? Not Valve and its Steam marketplace, apparently. Or will it?