The investment will help Gumi “develop high-quality mobile online and blockchain games.”
Despite the general collapse of the NFT market and the steady decline over 2022, there are still some game companies out there determined to continue with the practice. Square Enix is probably the most high-profile publisher out still unashamedly working with NFTs, a recent example being an NFT of an action figure of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7. It’s now putting its money where its mouth is with a ¥7 billion investment into a mobile developer called Gumi, which has worked on and distributed NFT games in the past.
A ResetEra user called Angie was the first to share the news about the investment, relayed to them by another user called ChaosSlayer. A press release from Gumi announced the ¥7 billion investment with the aim to “develop high-quality mobile online and blockchain games.” The developer also states that it wishes to use “leading content that is recognized by all” for future blockchain titles, with the aim of using recognizable franchises to create “Wow and Earn” titles.
It’s worth noting that Gumi has actually worked with Square Enix in the past. The developer’s website lists two games from the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius series, a pair of mobile titles that have performed moderately well for Square Enix. Gumi also has another title in development called Aster Tatariqus, although whether its uses the blockchain or NFTs seems to be unknown. From the developer’s previous work and this investment, we can safely assume as much.
While there aren’t any Final Fantasy blockchain titles in development just yet, this investment from Square Enix suggests Gumi will be the one to eventually do so. The publisher has made it very clear in the past that franchises such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest will become the subject of NFTs and blockchain games, and this is just yet another reminder that Square Enix doesn’t plan on leaving NFTs or the blockchain behind, no matter how unpopular they become.
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