Square Enix Is Still Not Giving Up On Blockchain Tech Amidst Gamer Backlash

Square Enix is still hopeful that play-to-earn, blockchain games are in the future for them, despite massive backlash from gamers.

This was the statement of company president Yosuke Matsuda, who himself said early this year that he "knows" many players don't like the blockchain and NFT fad. But in a recent interview, he expressed hope that "innovative and interesting" content based on blockchain tech can be created "from the ideas of users," as reported by PCGamer.

He was in the crosshairs of so many gamers back in January for stating that Square Enix wants to explore NFTs and blockchain tech as a whole. He also mentioned how there are two different types of gamers these days: people who either "play to have fun" or "play to contribute" when talking about how NFTs can be used to "incentivize" the latter for their efforts to build up a game's community.

VideoGamesChronicle also translated this part of Matsuda's interview, which provides further insight into his standing on blockchain and NFTs:

"Until now, in most games, we provided the content as a finished product and the players played that content. However, there are a certain number of players in the world who want to contribute to making games more interesting, by creating new settings and ways of playing."

The Square Enix president might as well be talking about the expansive modding communities many games have, and how modders themselves have been largely adding to the games they love without any compensation.

As such, he added that the company hopes to "utilize" the abilities of these modders in creating games that continue to evolve over time, and use blockchain tech/NFTs to ensure that they get the compensation they deserve. To cap things off, he said that play-to-earn blockchain games have a potential to make games more self-sustaining.

The Game Industry's Relationship With Blockchain

If Square Enix hopes to be among the biggest companies to cash in on play-to-earn games using blockchain tech, then they'll have to contend with traditional gamers-those who Matsuda says "play for fun."

Remember the saying, "don't bite the hand that feeds you?" Well, so many game companies like Square Enix might be doing just that with just how hard they've been pushing for NFTs. Just look at what Ubisoft experienced when they tried it: a YouTube video with an insane 96% dislike ratio, alongside the entire project getting shelved.

But even so, it's not just Ubisoft who has expressed interest in the fad. As per GameSpot, a lot of game industry bigwigs say they see the potential in blockchain tech, including EA, Konami, Sony, and "GTA" parent company Take-Two Interactive, among others. There is one, however, who's still wary of it all: Xbox.

Phil Spencer, while not ruling out NFTs as a whole, remains skeptical of the practice due to its "exploitive" nature (via Axios). Microsoft and Xbox notwithstanding, all of these game companies will have to find a way to get in the good graces of their customers if they want to push blockchain tech so badly.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce