Square Enix and Gumi Invest $52.7 Million in Game Development and NFTs

Square Enix, the Japanese gaming company known for popular franchises like Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider, has announced a $52.7 million investment in game developer Gumi. The partnership aims to create "high-quality" mobile games, blockchain games, and a Metaverse initiative, according to a press release.

One potential aspect of the partnership is the creation of a game-NFT-focused marketplace. Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are unique digital assets that are verified on a blockchain and can represent anything from collectible items to art and even virtual real estate. 

Image source: OpenSea

The growing popularity of NFTs in the gaming industry has led to the emergence of various NFT marketplaces, and Square Enix and Gumi are looking to tap into this trend.

NFT Games and Metaverse

In addition to potentially creating a marketplace, Gumi also plans to develop NFT games with metaverse integrations. A metaverse is a virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet. 

Image source: Getty

Gumi has coined a new term called "Wow and Earn," which refers to games built off of world-famous IP that is integrated with blockchain-based play-to-earn (P2E) features. P2E games allow players to earn rewards for their in-game actions, rather than simply purchasing in-game items with real money.

"In the future, while considering the use of powerful content that everyone recognizes, we will break away from the highly speculative blockchain games of the past and create value while enjoying fun and excitement," Gumi said in a statement. "We strongly recognize that it is necessary for game users all over the world to create a blockchain game that realizes 'Wow and Earn.'"

Gumi is also working on its metaverse business as a potential source of revenue. The company stated that it is "working day and night" to develop this arm of the business.

Image source: Gumi.sg

This is not the first time Square Enix and Gumi have partnered up. The two companies previously worked on mobile games in the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius series. They are also partners in the Oasys blockchain gaming project, which is building a network specifically for P2E gaming.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this new partnership between Square Enix and Gumi looks to be a promising collaboration that could bring some exciting new developments to the world of gaming and NFTs. 

It will be interesting to see what else the two companies have in store as they work together to create a one-stop service for the development, distribution, and sale of blockchain games and NFTs.