The Square Enix president, Yosuke Matsuda, published his traditional end of year speech, which summarizes the main concepts that emerged during 2021 and the prospects for 2022 for the publisher, and there is a notable insistence on metaverse, NFT, blockchain, cloud and artificial intelligence in the document.
After the video game dense dedicated more to users, more communication corporal of the company shifts the focus to elements more related to business, showing considerable attention to some issues that are causing a lot of discussion these days, such as NFT and alternative monetization systems.
In the speech, Matsuda highlights how most of the players have expressed a certain aversion towards NFTs, but also how these are likely to become a familiar concept in the gaming landscape and beyond. Considerable attention was also paid to the idea of metaverse, so much so that 2021 was considered “year 1 of the Metaverse”, according to Matsuda.
The president of Square Enix sees a link between the rise of this concept and the technological progress associated with extended reality, cloud and 5G solutions. If 2021 represented the emergence of this idea, 2022 according to Matsuda will represent the “transition to the business phase” for the metaverse, which should also have a substantial impact in the video game business and Square Enix specifically.
The president of Square Enix points out that a predatory and incorrect approach towards NFTs is also widespread, however he considers the system valid for the future and, once corrected, destined to become extremely widespread and standardized: “I expect to see the NFT become as familiar as physical assets“, Matsuda reported, which could consolidate as early as 2022.
As for Square Enix, the company will adapt to this trend by identifying in artificial intelligence, cloud and blockchain-based games are some of the main themes to invest in in the near future. On AI and cloud the company has already been moving for some time, also with the establishment of the Square Enix AI & ARTS Alchemy Co. division, while as regards blockchain-based games it is a question of building systems that sustain themselves autonomously from an economic point of view. Matsuda realizes that those looking for a traditional form of entertainment are not interested in these solutions, but the company aims at an extremely diverse audience with these new forms of video games.
#Square #Enix #metaverse #NFT #blockchain #CEO #Matsudas #yearend #speech