Square Enix president doubles down on blockchain, citing uses for user-generated content

It’s been approximately zero days since the last time blockchain and NFTs came up in the gaming industry, so another incoming hot take is just about due. The latest blockchain-related news to come out of Square Enix, following the company’s comments back in January endorsing NFTs, comes straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth once again.

In an interview with Yahoo Japan, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda doubled down on the idea of blockchain and an NFT-based economy in the company’s games, citing the potential for users to receive token-based rewards for creating game content themselves as a solid win for the industry. In Matsuda’s eyes, the lack of “explicit incentives” for content creation keeps users from creating “major game-changing content” themselves. By bringing blockchain into the mix instead of “relying on good intentions,” he claims, users can create more content with “innovative fun […] born from the user’s ideas.”

It’s certainly a curious argument to make, especially considering the vibrant and long-running modding communities for dozens of games, from the ubiquitous Skyrim to more recent hits like Elden Ring. Indeed, it seems like Matsuda and Square Enix could learn a thing or two from the time that Bethesda tried to monetize user-created content and was met with predictable backlash. Coupled with the insistence on tying the idea to blockchain and NFTs, a hot-button topic that numerous game companies and consumers have greeted with derision and dismay, it’s hard to imagine players taking this stance particularly well going forward.