If you are someone who loves playing Final Fantasy XIV, but who hates the idea of NFTs, then you’ll be happy to hear that it seems unlikely the two will mix. According to the game’s producer and director Naoki Yoshida, NFTs aren’t coming to the popular MMO anytime soon. However, Yoshida did explain that he is still interested in the concept of NFTs and thinks they could work in future games built with them in mind.
As spotted by Fanbyte, yesterday Yoshida appeared in a Final Fantasy XIV “Letter from the Producer” stream. During the stream, he talked about blockchain technology in games, NFTs, and how they would factor into the future of video games and Square Enix.
During the stream, Yoshida made it clear that NFTs would not be added to FF14.
“Based on how Final Fantasy 14 is designed, we don’t intend on incorporating any sort of NFT element in the game at this point,” explained Yoshida. “If anybody is worried or concerned about it, I can clearly state at this time that we do not have any intentions to incorporate that into the game.”
Later on in the stream, he doubled down on this promise, saying “No NFTs in FF14, so don’t worry.” However, I’m still a bit worried, but not about FF14.
Earlier this year, the CEO of Square Enix, Yosuke Matsuda, published a letter where he praised NFTs and even hoped that the scam-pretending-to-be-a-future-technology would become a “major trend in gaming going forward.’ In that New Year’s letter CEO Matsuda presented empty buzzwords, vague hints, and non-ideas about Square Enix’s potential plans involving the metaverse, NFTs, and blockchain technology. It was... not great!
Yoshida is aware of that letter and commented on it during the stream, explaining that after the CEO’s letter was published, Square Enix noticed a “?lot of reactions” about NFTs and how many Western players seemed “opposed” to them. He further explained the situation in the stream, suggesting people seem nervous about NFTs.
However, don’t assume Yoshida is against the idea of incorporating NFTs in video games. I mean, that would be nice! But nope. Instead, Yoshida expressed curiosity about NFTs and games, “completely unrelated to FF14".
“I do believe the vehicle itself could potentially be something that makes the concept of a video game a little bit more interesting,” Yoshida explained. “That being said, we would need a specific game design that would accommodate for the concept of NFTs.”
A reminder that NFTs are a giant scam and more people and companies within the gaming industry should be committed to saying that publicly and frequently. However, as you might expect, most companies seem more than willing to start selling players in-game NFTs and other blockchain-powered bullshit in order to make some quick cash before the inevitable bubble pops.
That pop can’t come soon enough!