After almost ten years in the position, Yosuke Matsuda, the CEO of Square Enix and a proponent of NFT, is leaving the company.
Square Enix announced company changes in March, announcing that Takashi Kiryu will replace Matsuda as CEO. But, the decision won’t become final until the annual shareholder meeting in May.
Web 3 and NFTs weren’t specifically mentioned in the notification, but the fact that the company stated it was trying to integrate new technology suggests that its blockchain-related plans could still move forward.
According to the filing, “Following the excitement and exhilaration that surrounded NFTs and the metaverse in 2021, 2022 was a year of great volatility in the blockchain-related space,” because of the entertainment industry’s quickly evolving commercial climate.
Matsuda made a lot of mention of his enthusiasm for Web3 gaming while he was still employed by Square Enix.
In a letter to shareholders on January 1st, Matsuda stated that Square Enix had made “strong expenditures and commercial development efforts” in the area in 2022 and would do so again in 2023.
In the note, he said that 2022 was “a year of enormous volatility in the blockchain-related environment” following the “excitement and thrills around NFTs and the metaverse in 2021,” adding that:
Yet, it will have been beneficial for the development of blockchain entertainment if this turns out to be the first step in a process that results in rules and a more open business climate.
Square Enix joined the Oasys blockchain gaming project in September 2022 and issued tokenized collectibles of Final Fantasy characters in July 2022 under Mastuda’s leadership. To aid in the development of “play-to-earn” games for mobile devices, the business also committed $52.7 million to Gumi Games in December.
Content Source: cointelegraph.com
