In Deja Vu Moment, Square Enix Announces It's Getting Really Into NFTs On January 1st

Most everyone knows someone who, when January 1st rolls around, announces that their New Year's Resolution is to get into shape or quit smoking, but after the year goes by and the resolution hasn't been achieved, they repeat the same resolution for the following year. To many, this is essentially what Square Enix appeared to do with NFTs this weekend.

Yesterday, Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda published a letter to investors announcing that in 2023, Square Enix will resolutely ignore everything bad that happened with Web3, cryptocurrency and NFTs in 2022 and keep working to make the controversial and increasingly despised industries an apparent focal point of Square Enix.

Yosuke Matsuda of Square Enix

A company that holds so much talent, so many beloved IPs, so many legends, so many great games, so many great things!

But no all he can talk about are blockchain and NFTs

I swear he has to go, SE has so much value but it's like he cannot see it pic.twitter.com/4ipbgHp6bS

— The Keyblade Master (@MKH13Omasters) January 1, 2023

On January 1st, 2022, Matsuda published a similar letter announcing Square was ready to dip its toes into these bold new fields, though it was not met well by numerous fans of Square Enix games. In that letter, Matsuda acknowledged that gamers who "play to have fun" might be upset at his vision, but foresaw that gamers who "play to contribute" could be the company's new clientele.

It was alarming for some gamers, but could charitably be written off as a poor investment strategy from a businessman eager to explore new ways to make money. The 2023 version of Matsuda's letter is, for many, even more bewildering, as Matsuda acknowledges the undeniably awful year the Web3 space had in 2022 but still has faith that Square's venture into Web3 will be different. Matsuda wrote:

Looking externally, I think it is fair to say that blockchain gained significant recognition as a field in 2022, as evidenced by “Web 3.0” becoming a firmly established buzzword among businesspeople. However, the year also saw volatility in the cryptocurrency and NFT (non-fungible token) markets that tracked the dramatic shifts in the macroeconomy described above. The latter half of the year in particular produced a somber string of news stories with blockchain connections, including the scandalous bankruptcy filing of FTX in November.

While one might take the myriad stories about cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and metaverses being scams and money sinks as a sign to back away from them, Matsuda apparently takes this to mean Web3 can only go up from here.

New technologies and frameworks lead to innovation, but they also create considerable confusion. Having ridden out such societal tides, some such technologies and frameworks gradually become part of people’s lives, eventually giving rise to new businesses and growth. Following the excitement and exhilaration that surrounded NFTs and the metaverse in 2021, 2022 was a year of great volatility in the blockchain-related space. However, if this proves to have been a step in a process that leads to the creation of rules and a more transparent business environment, it will definitely have been for the good of the growth of blockchain entertainment.

Much as it was in January 2022, Matsuda's January 2023 letter is getting roasted by some Square Enix fans who are now calling for his termination as the company's president.

Square Enix's CEO new year message is mostly about NFTs again. My guy does not care that they were trending last year over this. pic.twitter.com/kOWBowfIh9

— Maku (@TropicalMaku) January 1, 2023

So @SquareEnix Still trying to add all these blockchain NFT BS to their games and such. Like for real who really wants this, most people I know Dont want this. For a varity of reasons and yet they press on. Maybe I am unaware of a real call for them so here is a poll #nft

— Shawn (Berneir Dalenburg) He/Him 🔜MAGEST (@Berneirffxiv) January 1, 2023

Nice! We have just started 2023 and Square Enix already started taking L’s…again

Square Enix’s president sent a letter which has an overall negative tone of financial difficulties and once again stated “heavy investment” on blockchainhttps://t.co/XyNc4ojvHn pic.twitter.com/vIIvj0mYMB

— Colt #BullshitMafia (@infrarogue89) January 1, 2023

Perhaps Square Enix is in too deep in the Web3 game to back out now and Matsuda is trying his best to quell what would be very reasonable investor fears about the company's continued presence in this space. At any rate, they better hope that Web3… "thing" Symbiogenesis performs well when it's eventually released in spring.