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

Square Enix is selling a Final Fantasy VII action figure that comes with a digital NFT, but warns that the NFT could become useless in the future.

The Cloud Strife figure, which will be released in November 2023, costs $129.99, but there’s also a ‘Digital Plus Edition‘ which costs $159.99 (as spotted by TheGamer).

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.”

People who buy the figure will have to create an account with NFT platform Enjin and download their Enjin Wallet app. Once they get their figure they will then have a limited time to redeem their digital certificate and digital figure, after which “any attempt to redeem […] cannot be accepted for any reason.”

The figure’s pre-order page also includes a lengthy “Caution before Purchasing” section, which warns that not only can these NFTs not be sold at first, they may ultimately become useless if Enjin deactivates its services in the future.

“At time of product release, the digital certificate of authenticity and digital version of the figure are not supported on marketplace and cannot be transferred or sold to third party,” it reads. “If Square Enix Co Ltd decide to support the marketplace in the future, it will be announced on this page.”

It adds: “Warning – In case the Enjin services becomes unavailable in the future, you may lose access to the NFT digital certificate of authenticity and digital version of the figure.”

The figure is the latest in Square Enix’s ongoing NFT interest, which started in January when president Yosuke Matsuda published a new year letter expressing the company’s enthusiasm for NFTs and blockchain technology.

Despite criticism by some corners of the games industry, Matsuda’s letter triggered an eight percent jump in Square Enix’s share price – its biggest single-day increase since August 2021 – during the first day of trading in Tokyo since its publication.

In June, at the company’s 2022 Shareholders’ Meeting Report, it was revealed that its medium-term goals include the “development of blockchain games and entertainment products”.

Further reading

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Square Enix wants to develop ‘story-focused’ NFTs

But it doesn't plan to make Final Fantasy NFT games soon

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.”

Earlier this week, Bitcoin gaming startup Zebedee – which claims to have “created a platform that allows any game developer to easily add programmable money into their games” – announced that it had received $35 million of funding from numerous investors, of which Square Enix was one.