Video games double down on NFTs despite historical crashes

We were so close. As The NFT market suffered a meteoric crash after anotherand like some crypto-based games lost money by hundreds of millions, it seemed for a second there that the gaming industry could come to its senses. Men nei. This week alone, two major parties unveiled a commitment to merge NFTs and video games.

Square Enix, the legendary publisher that seems to intend to bury every ounce of goodwill it has accumulated over the years and then dance on the grave, doubles his obsession with blockchain technology.

Earlier this year, Square Enix sold out a handful of prestigious studios-including Deus Ex maker Eidos Montreal and Grave robber managers Crystal Dynamics — for $ 300 million. About the same time, the company stated a clear intention to go all in on incorporating blockchain technology into their games. The company report for the general meeting in 2022published this week (via Silicone), said they plan to introduce “story-focused NFTs” to their games.

It is unclear exactly how this blockchain technology will introduce new features not already found in video games. Representatives of Square Enix did not respond to a request for comment.

Also this week, a duo of former PlayStation executives – Michael Mumbauer and John Garvin – announced the formation of a new studio, Liithos (Slogan: “from impossible to inevitable”), which plans to develop games on Honor Krypton Network. Mumbauer, who previously co-founded indiestudio That’s No Moon, resigned from his role as CEO earlier this year. (That’s No Moon was established last year and has not yet released a game.) Here is part of his mission for Liithos:

I want to see a world where the characters and stories I love do not end after I finish the game. It has been a dream of mine for decades. The biggest obstacle to overcome has been that there has not been a meaningful way to connect different entertainment worlds properly. Web 3 will unlock the power to transform the way we do entertainment. Imagine reading your favorite cartoon or watching the final season of a show you love, except they’re all based in the same wonderful world. Even better, by watching the show you get something that adds incredible value to your enjoyment of the game. Is it possible?

The first battle out of Liithos is Ashfall, a post-apocalyptic action game set in hundreds of years in the future in the Pacific Northwest. Liithos is currently selling a cartoon based on Ashfall for $ 100 (“Expected Delivery September 23”). Garvin, who has previously written and directed survival games for the open world Days gonewill serve as Ashfall‘s creative leader.

It is unclear exactly how Liithos plans to get a blockchain-based game past the certification processes of historically strict console stores. Through a representative, Mumbauer said Kotaku that “development will take a while, [but] we believe the integration of technologies that will enhance our trans-media goals will come online eventually. Alternatively, we have thought [to] put some focus on technology backend to connect media together if one has not been created that we can utilize for Ashfall. “

Noted.

This week, NFT.NYC hosts its fourth annual festival, where a horde of cryptobros arrives in New York City. One of the main scenes was right across the street from Kotaku HQ; walk from the subway to the office every day meant wading through a sea of ​​semi-zippers in fleece and chinos in polyester and red plastic lines. Afterwards, the participants flocked to the galleries of Soho and Williamsburg to sip sour Prosecco and speak in calm, reverent tones about a “Gary V”.

It’s one thing to hear about this, to read about it or to watch from a distance when a venerable publisher of typically excellent games makes terrible business decisions. It is something completely different to see the glow so tangible in person.

We were so close.