Square Enix clearing house, doubles down on blockchain

Square Enix, which raised eyebrows last year with its unwavering stance on NFTs and blockchain, has further confirmed its plans to focus on the controversial technology this year.

Meanwhile, it’s steadily ending support for a selection of its games, making the company’s offerings a much slimmer dish for consumers (and perhaps potential buyers?).

In his recent New Year’s letter, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda stated that 2023 will be a year of “great evolution and transformation” for the company, with “more blockchain games based on original IPs in development” at this time. Some of these, Matsuda noted, have already been announced, while others will be unveiled at a later date.

“Blockchain has been an object of excitement and a source of unease, but with that in the rearview mirror, we hope blockchain gaming will move into a new stage of growth in 2023,” Matsuda wrote, acknowledging the “gloomy streak of news stories” . with blockchain connections” that made headlines in 2022.

Matsuda believes these controversies have actually made blockchain a better option for Square Enix now.

“If this turns out to have been a step in a process leading to the creation of rules and a more transparent business environment, it will definitely have been for the best for the growth of blockchain entertainment,” he wrote.

“Keeping a steady eye on these environmental changes while considering from a higher perspective what Web 3.0 and blockchain entertainment is actually about offers a different view than if we focus on them solely in technological or speculative investment terms.

“As I said in last year’s New Year’s letter, if we consider traditional gaming to have become centralized, then blockchain gaming has to operate based on a self-sustaining decentralized model. It’s that concept, that philosophy that I see as key.”

As this continues at Square Enix, the company is also ending support for several of its games.

Later this month, on the 11th, Final Fantasy 7 Battle Royale The First Soldier will be closed. Then, on February 28th, Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights will end its service.

Regarding this, Square Enix stated: “Since the launch of the service on Thursday, January 27, 2022, we have made every effort to provide better service, but we have come to the conclusion that it will be difficult to provide services that satisfy our customers in the future, so we have decided to end the service.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our customers for their support and deeply apologize for this announcement.”

The company stated that it has plans for an offline mode to be made available for Bravely Default: Brilliant Lights further down the line.

These games follow in the footsteps of Square’s Final Fantasy themed Mario Kart, Chocobo GP.

In December, Square Enix announced an end to “large-scale updates” for the controversial Nintendo Switch racer just nine months after launch.

While the game will remain playable and rankings will continue without the use of premium pass tiers, no new characters or maps will be released, effectively ending support after the conclusion of Season 5.

In addition to all this trimming, last year Square Enix also sold its Western studios, including IPs like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, to Embracer.

However, there are still some good things to come from Square Enix this year. Its magical, parkour-infused Oracle will be released on PlayStation 5 and PC on January 24, 2023. Next, the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 16 will be on its way on June 22.