Square Enix fans hit out at company over NFT plans for 2022

Sam Comrie
An image of Yosuke Matsuda, President of Square Enix.

Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda has declared 2021 as “year one” for the surge of NFTs. Matsuda’s New Year message offers an insight into Square Enix’s future with blockchain technology. 

2021 was certainly an interesting year, to say the least when it came to the popularity of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin and altcoin’s like Ethereum dominated the market, but perhaps the most unique development was that of NFTs.

As competitors like Ubisoft attempt to enter the NFT arena, Square Enix’s president thinks 2021 was just the tip of the iceberg.

stalker 2 nft deleted
Stalker 2’s developers received immediate backlash for their now canceled NFT plans.

Yosuke Matsuda issues New Year statement

“I see 2021 not only as “Metaverse: Year One,” but also as “NFTs: Year One,” said Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda in a statement issued to see in the New Year. Speaking on the potential of Non-Fungible Tokens, Matsuda added 2021 “was a year in which NFTs were met with a great deal of enthusiasm by a rapidly expanding user base.”

The surge of NFTs in the media hasn’t been met with positivity entirely, which Matsuda is aware of: “we do observe examples here and there of overheated trading in NFT-based digital goods with somewhat speculative overtones.”

“I expect to see an eventual right-sizing in digital goods deals as they become more commonplace among the general public, with the value of each available content corrected to their true estimated worth,” Matsuda said on Square Enix’s approach to dealing in the NFT market.

Matsuda’s decision to explore the NFT market hasn’t sparked off positive impressions with players, as reactions begin to pour in. “Square Enix really said “Happy New Year” and started to talk about NFTs immediately,” said Twitter user @RedMakuzawa. 

https://twitter.com/RedMakuzawa/status/1477121873821384707?s=20

https://twitter.com/sephirothsdoll/status/1477134706349166603?s=20

Square Enix kicking in the door of 2022 like, “Good news: The future of video games is worse than ever before!” said commenter @MikeDrucker.

As more divisive opinions begin to form, it sure will be fascinating to see just how deep Square Enix’s integration of blockchain goes in the future.