Square Enix Doesn't Care That You Hate NFTs
Square Enix's president has spoken up on the future of blockchain in the company's games - and they don't care that you don't like them.
03rd Jan 2022 13:08
Square Enix | Bored Ape Yacht Club
Square Enix Doesn't Care That You Hate NFTs
Square Enix's president has spoken up on the future of blockchain in the company's games - and they don't care that you don't like them.
03rd Jan 2022 13:08
Square Enix | Bored Ape Yacht Club
NFTs in the gaming space have become a big point of contention in the wider community, and a growing problem that will likely reach new heights in 2022.
The conversation around bringing Non-Fungible Tokens into the world of video games is an inevitable one as the fad continues to gain traction, and even though loot boxes and microtransactions are still a hot topic, some are desperate for the JPG-trading structure to come to video games. And gaming companies are listening.
Ubisoft's Quartz outing was a total disaster with its launch trailer being bombarded with dislikes, and even after this, companies are still considering their plunge into the NFT space. One company boss doesn't care that you don't like it.
Square Enix President Knows You Hate NFTs
A new letter from Square Enix's President Yosuke Matsuda has reflected on the last year while looking forward to what the company can do in 2022. He has shared his feelings on Ubisoft games integrating NFTs in the coming year.
"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, and understandably so," says Matsuda.
"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. Traditional gaming has offered no explicit incentive to this latter group of people, who were motivated strictly by such inconsistent personal feelings as goodwill and volunteer spirit."
It's incredibly peculiar to see the president of such a big gaming company assuming there are gamers that play for anything other than fun, but he still asserts that NFTs are a big part of the future of gaming.
NFTs Will Offer 'Explicit Incentives', Says Matsuda
Matsuda continues to express the potential that NFTs have in Square Enix titles in the future. "With advances in token economies, users will be provided with explicit incentives, thereby resulting not only in greater consistency in their motivation, but also creating a tangible upside to their creative efforts.
"I believe that this will lead to more people devoting themselves to such efforts and to greater possibilities of games growing in exciting ways. 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." It's a strange stance to take after the immediate failure of Quartz, but it seems that Matsuda is confident in the success of blockchain integration in Square Enix games.
The actual utility of NFTs in gaming that won't simply come off as yet another microtransaction is incredibly unlikely right now, and it doesn't matter to Square Enix if you're sceptical. Matsuda and co. are going to do it anyway.
About The Author
Joseph Kime
Joseph Kime is the Senior Trending News Journalist for GGRecon from Devon, UK. Before graduating from MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he started writing music reviews for his own website before writing for the likes of FANDOM, Zavvi and The Digital Fix. He is host of the Big Screen Book Club podcast, and author of Building A Universe, a book that chronicles the history of superhero movies. His favourite games include DOOM (2016), Celeste and Pokemon Emerald.
