If you are someone who loves playing Final Fantasy XIV, but who hates the idea of NFTs, then youâll be happy to hear that it seems unlikely the two will mix. According to the gameâs producer and director Naoki Yoshida, NFTs arenât 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 âLetter from the Producerâ 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.
âBased on how Final Fantasy 14 is designed, we donât intend on incorporating any sort of NFT element in the game at this point,â explained Yoshida. âIf 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.â
Later on in the stream, he doubled down on this promise, saying âNo NFTs in FF14, so donât worry.â However, Iâm 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 âmajor trend in gaming going forward.â In that New Yearâs letter CEO Matsuda presented empty buzzwords, vague hints, and non-ideas about Square Enixâs 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 CEOâs letter was published, Square Enix noticed a â lot of reactionsâ about NFTs and how many Western players seemed âopposedâ to them. He further explained the situation in the stream, suggesting people seem nervous about NFTs.
However, donât 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, âcompletely unrelated to FF14“.
âI do believe the vehicle itself could potentially be something that makes the concept of a video game a little bit more interesting,â Yoshida explained. âThat being said, we would need a specific game design that would accommodate for the concept of NFTs.â
A reminder that NFTs are a giant scam andmore 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 canât come soon enough!