Blockchain technology key to Square Enix's growth, financial results show
Final Fantasy 14 net sales rise as overall revenue falls.
Blockchain technology is seemingly key to Square Enix's growth strategy.
The company has released its latest financials, with once again a drop in overall sales propped up by the success of MMORPG Final Fantasy 14.
Yet the prominence of blockchain technology is particularly eye-opening.
As part of the company's medium-term business strategy, it aims to take on new domains, as well as strengthen its IP ecosystem and optimise business structure for a covid world.
Those new domains focus primarily on promoting blockchain games and entertainment.
Last week, the company revealed its Symbiogenesis project featuring its first sales of NFT collectible art based on a new IP, where "the story unfolds based on players' strategic moves".
Prior to this, the company joined the Oasys blockchain and announced its plans for Final Fantasy NFTs.
Further plans include Shi-San-Sei Million Arthur 10th anniversary NFTs, and investments in FinTech platform Zebedee built on Bitcoin, medieval online strategy game Blocklords, NFT trading card game Cross The Ages, blockchain game developer Animoca Brands, and decentralised metaverse The Sandbox.
That's on top of cloud gaming services Blacknut and Ubitus. The latter worked with Capcom on the cloud version of Resident Evil Village for Switch.
This focus on blockchain and cloud technology follows comments from Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda at the start of the year, where he stated these would become a "major trend" in gaming.
There is no mention of Final Fantasy 16 in its medium-term business strategy (its release is set for summer 2023, which will be in the next fiscal year).
For the first half of the current fiscal year, net sales for Square Enix have dropped by 3.3 percent, while operating income dropped by 10.7 percent year on year.
Sales of its games have decreased, despite the release of a number of new titles like Live A Live, PowerWash Simulator, Valkyrie Elysium, and Star Ocean: The Divine Force.
Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion and Forspoken are still set for release this fiscal year.
Net sales of MMO games has once again increased, with rising paying subscriber numbers for Final Fantasy 14. It means almost a quarter of net sales from digital entertainment now comes from MMO games.
The report does mention that no expansion packs for Final Fantasy 14 or Dragon Quest 10 will be released in the remainder of this fiscal year.