‘Web3 becomes buzzword among business people’: Square Enix chief Yosuke Matsuda

Square Enix Holdings president Yosuke Matsuda said the Web3 industry saw some beneficial developments in 2022 despite a volatile crypto asset market and the scandalous fall of crypto exchange platform FTX.

In his new year message published on January 1, Matsuda noted that blockchain gained significant recognition as a field in 2022, with Web3 “becoming a firmly established buzzword among business people.”

He said blockchain gaming events recently produced more active discussion than before about what makes the games exciting and what their user community looks like. 

Back in 2021, the market was driven more by speculative investors than by gamers, meaning that game content was created based on the premise that blockchain and NFTs should result in monetization, Matsuda said. 

However, in the wake of the turbulence in the cryptocurrency industry seen in 2022, “there is now a trend to view blockchain technology as a mere means to an end and to discuss what needs to achieve the end of delivering new experiences and excitement to customers,” he wrote.

“I see this as a very beneficial development for the future growth of the industry.”

Square Enix is developing multiple blockchain games based on original IPs, some of which were announced in 2022, and is preparing to unveil more titles in 2023, Matsuda said.