Square Enix – among the heavyweights in the gaming sector – reportedly views NFT and play-to-earn games as the key aspects to focus on in the future, signaling a potential rise in adoption for both fields of the crypto sphere.

Specifically, Yosuke Matsuda, CEO of Square Enix, reportedly disclosed details related to the initiatives the firm has down its pipeline for blockchain and NFT, via a new year’s message on December 1st. 

Matsuda reportedly started his letter with mentions to the metaverse, prior noting that Facebook’s renaming to Meta serves as evidence for the concept staying around longer than just a hype. 

He reportedly shared his expectations of 2022 becoming a year of hype for the metaverse, with society slowly accepting the virtual worlds, as well as their power of connection among individuals beyond geographical boundaries.  

From his perspective, extended reality technology, the rising utilization of cloud computing and 5G will all make contributions to the metaverse’s existence.

“As this abstract concept begins to take concrete shape in the form of product and service offerings, I am hoping that it will bring about changes that have a more substantial impact on our business as well.” Matsuda additionally remarked when discussing the concept. 

He further shared the same outlook for NFTs, then blockchain and play-to-earn. Matsuda reportedly believed that 2021 was “year one” for NFTs and the metaverse, during which a substantial amount of wild trading happened, which shared no correspondence with market speculations.

Blockchain-centric investments are still moving in the upward direction at a fast rate, and a few of the top adamant in trying to bring blockchain mainstream reportedly belonged to firms from the gaming industry. 

Square Enix previously made investments in the metaverse via participating in a $2-million funding round for The Sandbox, an Ethereum-powered metaverse game.