Square Enix has announced a playable ‘NFT collectible art experience’

Square Enix has announced a “new franchise” built around NFTs.

Symbiogenesis is described by the company as its “first digital collectible art project designed from the ground up for Web3 fans”.

According to Square Enix, Symbiogenesis is set in a self-contained world where “a wide cast of characters symbiosis, all of which can be collected as digital art”.

It promises to offer “an interactive story and a dedicated community”.

The ‘art’ collected by players can be used “as a character in a story that takes place in an alternate world where the player can ’untangle’ a mystery by completing missions that revolve around questions of the monopolization and distribution of resources”.

It can also be used as a social media profile picture.

Square Enix says sales of the Symbiogenesis NFTs will begin in spring 2023, alongside a “free browser service”.

During the company’s 2022 Shareholders’ Meeting Report in June, Square Enix shared its plans to create “story-focused” NFTs.

As revealed in the report, the company’s medium-term goals include the “development of blockchain games and entertainment products”.

However, when discussing how the blockchain would impact the company’s biggest franchises, Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda said: “It’s still too early to consider making Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy blockchain games.”

Square Enix was one of the first major publishers to declare support for NFT. In a New Year letter published during the holiday break last year, Matsuda committed to making blockchain and NFT games a part of Square Enix’s games portfolio.

The publisher has also started selling action figures that come with digital NFTs. A Cloud Strife figure, set to be released this month, costs $129.99, but there’s also a ‘Digital Plus Edition‘ which costs $159.99.

Further reading

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Square Enix is selling a Final Fantasy figure that comes with an NFT

Paying an extra $30 gets you an NFT that you "may lose access to" in the future

The Digital Plus Edition is exclusive to the Square Enix Store and includes “exchange tickets to redeem a digital certificate of authenticity and a digital version of the figure which can be enjoyed on PC or smart phone”.

In the item description, Square Enix confirms: “Both digital certificate of authenticity and digital version of the figure are managed by the block chain technology known as NFTs.”

However, it also warns that the NFT could become useless in the future if NFT platform Enjin – which is handling the distribution of the ‘digital figures – shuts down its service.