Square Enix Reaffirms Commitment To Blockchain Gaming, Despite Crypto Winter

The so-called "crypto winter" has cooled interest in the blockchain world for the past six months, but some are still enthusiastic about the technology. That latter group includes Square Enix's president, Yosuke Matsuda, who once again used the company's annual New Year's letter to reconfirm its strong interest in crypto and blockchain's role in gaming.

In the letter, Matsuda named "blockchain entertainment" as the area the company is most focused on in 2023, noting that the blockchain "gained significant recognition as a field in 2022," along with Web 3.0 as a concept. However, Matsuda also notes "volatility" in the crypto and NFT markets, including the surprise collapse of FTX, which was once considered one of the most promising players in the space.

Matsuda strikes an optimistic note, saying that while the market was driven more by investors in 2021 due to soaring crypto prices, the ongoing "turbulence" in the industry should cause developers to view the blockchain as a means to an end, rather than the end in itself. He also confirms that Square Enix has multiple blockchain games in development.

While it's likely that the current crypto winter will eventually end, consumer interest in NFT or blockchain-based games has been limited in the past, with even successful examples like Axie Infinity failing to cross over into the mainstream. As such, even if the crypto bubble inflates again, traditional game companies like Square Enix have an uphill climb ahead of them.