Fresh details on Square Enix's blockchain experience Symbiogenesis revealed
Crypto chronicles.
Details of Square Enix's Web3 blockchain experience Symbiogenesis have been revealed ahead of its launch this spring.
The project was first announced last November as an NFT project to mark a "new franchise". At the start of this year, the company once again stated its intention to release blockchain games.
Now we know what Symbiogenesis will be: an "interactive Web3 digital collectible art experience" on the Polygon blockchain.
The description continues, as per a press release: "Symbiogenesis will offer a unique experience built around digital collectible art that is tied to a storyline players will unfold in a virtual (turn-based) adventure. The art evolves with each strategic move a player makes. The project is set on a mysterious floating continent where unique storylines unravel based on information obtained by holding digital collectible arts that represent different characters. Players can unlock numerous engaging stories about this secretive world and its inhabitants by holding or trading digital collectible arts and can earn them by completing various missions.
"Players can also replicate and sell digital arts for their character, sharing their unique storylines with others and working together as a community to complete the mission."
Further, with regards to specific NFT usage: "Players can use Polygon NFTs as utility items and freely trade them within the ecosystem. NFT collectibles can also be used as profile pictures and other ways by examining the world and finding various items. The NFTs allow players to access secret stories as holders can determine if they want to keep the secret or share the information with others."
The game will have multiple endings, although only three players "meeting specific conditions" will be chosen to participate in the final 'World Mission' to decide the fate of the world and its inhabitants.
Symbiogenesis will utilise the Polygon network, described as "highly sustainable" thanks to its carbon-neutral status. It will also leverage Ethereum's "robust inherent security and decentralisation".
"Symbiogenesis was designed from the ground up on the blockchain and is designed to provide an exceptional experience for both community building and trading," said Symbiogenesis producer Naoyuki Tamate. "Square Enix opted to tap into Polygon's high transaction speeds, low gas fees, and overall user-friendliness to deliver this unique experience to Web3 fans."
Urvit Goel, vice president of global games and platform business development at Polygon Labs, added: "We are extremely proud to collaborate with Square Enix, a highly respected gaming company with a proven track record spanning over several decades.
"Our latest collaboration just goes to show that Web3 is decisively getting more and more traction among the world's largest developers, proving yet again that this innovative stack of technologies and the benefits they bestow have massive potential when it comes to gaming."
Square Enix first revealed its plans to utilise NFTs and blockchain technology in a statement from president Yosuke Matsuda at the start of 2022. Few projects have been revealed beyond Final Fantasy NFTs for the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy 7.
So far, the wider gaming community has been critical of the blockchain. The most recent State of the Game survey from GDC noted that interest in blockchain technology has waned in the past year, with a clear majority opposed to it.