Even though a lot of gaming companies have left blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Square Enix is putting more effort into this cutting-edge technology. In January 2023, Square Enix’s former president, Yosuke Matsuda, said that the company would be making risky investments in blockchain technology and NFTs. At the moment, the group is making plans for the start of Symbiogenesis, its first NFT game.
Square Enix’s new relationship with Elixir Games shows how much it wants to reach its goals. This means that Web3 technology will be used in games of note in the future. According to a statement from the Japanese company that makes and sells video games, Elixir Games wants to hide the use of web3 technology so that regular players can have a simple, seamless gaming experience. Users can now play any game from their Epic library along with their favorite web3 games, thanks to the new addition of Epic Games.
The idea behind this integration is that Elixir Games wants to offer enough games that aren’t web3 games along with web3 games, making it hard for players to tell the difference between the two and making them more likely to become dependent on web3 games. Adding Web3 and NFT to traditional video games has a number of advantages. Basically, it has the potential to make traditional video games more interactive and interesting by letting players buy, sell, and trade unique digital goods within the game.
By putting in place a more realistic economy and letting players own and control their virtual goods, it can also give players a more interesting gaming experience. In the same way, game developers can use blockchain technology to make in-game exchanges more open and safe, which reduces the chance of scams or theft.
We’re extremely happy to announce our partnership and strategic investment from @SquareEnix 🎉
We’re joining forces to make web3 games mainstream and accessible for all kind of gamers. https://t.co/vg0n2XLNUH
— Elixir Game Launcher (@elixir_launcher) April 19, 2023
The use of Web3, blockchain, and NFTs has caused a lot of discussion in the gaming industry. Even though many companies and publishers were excited about blockchain technology at first, many of them got harsh criticism when they said they would use it. Valve and itch.io have made it so that blockchain technology can’t be used on their sites at all. This is because fraud is a common use for blockchain technology.
Climate Replay is a non-governmental group that wants to reduce the environmental impact of the gaming business. Last year, they made an anti-NFT pledge. A small number of companies agreed with this promise. The pledge was made to get around the problems that keep coming up and have big effects on systems that use blockchain technology. These systems need a lot of energy to work, and they could do a lot of damage to the world if they are not fixed.
Traditional gamers are getting more and more worried that their use could lead to the commercialization of video game properties, which would mean that only people with enough money to buy exclusive NFTs could enjoy the game to its fullest. Square Enix thinks that blockchain games will reach a new level of development in 2023, even though blockchain technology is still controversial in traditional games. The move by Square Enix and Elixir Games to work together is a step forward for open gaming. As the year goes on, it is likely that other big names in the business will also launch important projects in this area.