TECH NEWS – Square Enix has unveiled a partnership with Oasys, a growing gaming blockchain group whose investors include nearly two dozen different developers.

Game blockchain group Oasys has just announced that Square Enix has invested in its project as the 21st initial node player on its platform. Square Enix joins several other major game developers, including Ubisoft and Bandai Namco, in investing in sharing game technology.

Square Enix is best known as the developer of game franchises such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Its investment in Oasys will be used to explore the feasibility of NFTs, cryptocurrencies and play-to-earn models for Square Enix’s future titles.

Square Enix has not revealed any specifics about the partnership at this time, but gamers can assume that blockchain games will be included in the future.

Oasys is a gaming blockchain launched by executives from several game companies, including Hajime Nakatani, CEO of Bandai Namco, and Shuji Utsumi, co-CEO of SEGA and CEO of SEGA of America. It claims to create an “eco-friendly, game-optimised Proof-of-Stake blockchain, for gamers, by gamers”. While Ubisoft, Bandai Namco and SEGA are the largest gaming conglomerates backing Oasys, along with Square Enix, there are dozens of other smaller investors already supporting the project.

Square Enix’s initial decision to invest in blockchain games has provoked polarised reactions, and this latest development has been no different. The relationship between NFTs, cryptocurrencies and games is an area that few players have asked for. Many games that have tried to incorporate blockchain technology into their games have so far been lukewarm successes.

What’s worse, most blockchain technologies are dangerous to the environment and strain hardware, leading to price hikes and supply shortages, such as the semiconductor shortages that have plagued the gaming industry for more than a year or the ever-rising prices of video cards.

Despite this, Oasys claims to be aiming to produce a greener blockchain technology than existing methods.

It advertises that its systems will be resistant to scams, another problem endemic to many cryptocurrency models. While it is not yet known what these methods will look like, nor what games Square Enix’s investment in Oasys will result in, the company seems intent on doubling down on crypto-gaming. It remains to be seen what Square Enix game developers resistant to NFTs and cryptocurrencies, such as Final Fantasy 14 director and producer Naoki Yoshida, will say about the company’s decision.

Source: Medium.com