Square Enix Sells Off Major Studios And IP To Invest More Into NFTs

Square Enix is one of the only video game publishers touting the benefits of NFTs, but now the publisher is taking its investment into the tech a step further. Yesterday, the Japanese corporation announced the selling of three major studios and multiple properties to help fund new business innovations, including in the crypto space.

Embracer Group has signed a deal agreeing to pay $300 million to Square Enix to obtain the rights to properties such as Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain, and Thief, as well as game studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal.

In a press release Square attributed the sale to a need to “[adapt] to the changes underway in the global business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources.” Pointedly the studio also called out a need for the “launch of new businesses,” with AI, cloud computing, and blockchain technology being listed as places of focus.

Square Enix will still retain its most lauded and long-running IPs including Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts, as well as its newer hits Life is Strange and Outriders. Although, the sale will see a significant reduction in the publisher's game development operations.

Square first made a splash in the crypto gaming space in 2020, when the company lead a $2 million funding round for the Ethereum-based metaverse game, Sandbox. Also announced this year was Square’s intention to bring its classic franchise, Dungeon Siege, into the Sandbox game world which lets users buy and sell plots of NFT land.

Yosuke Matsuda, president of Square Enix, wrote of the company's increased push into crypto, in an open letter published in January. Pointing out the difference between people who want to “play to have fun” and “play to contribute”, making reference to the fact that the latter is possible in blockchain games, where users have the ability to own in-game assets and earn tokens based on their skill and dedication to the games.

“Blockchain games, which have emerged from their infancy and are at this very moment entering a growth phase, are built upon the premise of a token economy and therefore hold the potential to enable self-sustaining game growth,” he wrote.

Square Enix isn't the only video game publisher embracing the new technology, Ubisoft as well has seen a significant interest in NFTs and is one of the first major game corporations to publish in-game NFTs, in Ghost Recon Blackpoint via the Tezos blockchain.

In spite of these corporations' pushes for the tech to be adopted many gamers are vehemently against NFTs, citing these companies' need for more profit, instead of including features that can benefit the player as to their interest in the technology.