Nonfungible tokens (NFT) and play-to-earn games may be on their way to becoming more widely adopted, as one of the world’s major gaming businesses sees them as the industry’s future
In his new year’s address on Saturday, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda revealed the company’s plans for blockchain and NFT spheres. Matsuda opens his letter with an explanation of the metaverse before pointing out that Facebook’s rename to Meta is proof that the concept isn’t a fad. He predicts that 2022 will be a year of metaverse excitement, as society gradually embraces virtual worlds and their potential to link people across geographical borders. He believes that extended reality technology, cloud computing, and 5G will all contribute to the creation of the metaverse.
To be a leader in NFTs, blockchain and decentralized gaming is an aspirational step, however, even if many gamers aren’t yet on board with the idea.
“I realize that some people who ‘play to have fun’ and who currently form the majority of players have voiced their reservations toward these new trends,” Matsuda wrote in the letter, which was released on Saturday.
“However, I believe that there will be a certain number of people whose motivation is to ‘play to contribute,’ by which I mean to help make the game more exciting,” he added. “Traditional gaming has offered no explicit incentive to this latter group of people.”
He continues on discussing NFTs, blockchain, and play-to-earn in a similar manner. According to Matsuda, the year 2021 was “year one” for NFTs and the metaverse, with a lot of crazy trading that didn’t always match market speculations.
Investments in blockchain are still increasing at a rapid pace, and gaming corporations have been among the most vocal in their efforts to legitimize the technology. Square Enix got its start in the metaverse by investing in The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based metaverse game, in a $2 million fundraising round. According to Matsuda’s annual letter, the company is doubling focus on numerous emerging technologies.
