Square Enix, the Japanese video game developer best known for its highly successful Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy franchises, plans to launch its first Web3 game on Polygon, a Layer 2 blockchain for Ethereum. Polygon first announced its collaboration with Square Enix on February 15.
Symbiogenesis is scheduled for launch this spring, while it was initially announced in November 2022. It is expected to be a browser-based game for both mobile and desktop devices, offering its players numerous missions that will have to be completed to reveal the final mystery. The new Square Enix's game will also have an interactive story that will touch on issues regarding the distribution of resources and monopolization.
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The team behind the game provided certain details about the game in the January 25 Twitter post:
"Symbiogenesis has multiple endings. Only three players meeting specific conditions will participate in the World Mission, faced with a choice to define the future. Other players will only be able to watch as the world unfolds."
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While the role of NFTs in Symbiogenesis was not entirely clear for quite a while, Square Enix said in the press release cited by Eurogamer:
"Players can use Polygon NFTs as utility items and freely trade them within the ecosystem. NFT collectibles can also be used as profile pictures and other ways by examining the world and finding various items. The NFTs allow players to access secret stories as holders can determine if they want to keep the secret or share the information with others."
These facts make some gamers suspect that the inability to purchase NFTs could severely limit the gaming experience.
Square Enix also plans to release Symbiogenesis NFT collectibles this spring.
Some members of the NFT community reacted to the news about the collaboration between Square Enix and Polygon Labs with great enthusiasm. For instance, The Vorld, a Solana-based gameverse, called the games "NFT saviors" in its Twitter post and expressed hope that "more traditional (big) game developers will join the dance."
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Yet, many Square Enix fans have also expressed concern about the potential harm to the environment that blockchain initiatives can cause. However, in the same press release, the game developers mentioned the sustainability of the Polygon network as one of the deciding factors in their decision. Other reasons for the game developer's choice include low gas fees and high transaction speed.
Meanwhile, Square Enix also plans to release a collection of digital cards as a part of Final Fantasy 7's 25th anniversary celebration in spring 2023. In this case, the game development company has chosen the Efinity cross-chain network and the Enjin NFT ecosystem.
