Square Enix Investeert in Crypto-Game Launcher HyperPlay

In a recent announcement, Square Enix, the publisher behind popular game franchises such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, announced that it has invested in HyperPlay, a crypto-native game launcher. As part of this partnership, Square Enix’s Symbiogenesis will be available exclusively in-store.

Value of investment is unknown

HyperPlay, which describes the investment as “strategic fundraising,” did not disclose the value of the investment. JacobC.eth, the anonymous founder of HyperPlay, has expressed his admiration for Square Enix, describing the publisher as “the most innovative and progressive among the major game studios.”

Square Enix is ​​not new to the blockchain space, given previous investments in metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox in 2020, experiments with NFT stickers in Japan, and the linking of NFTs to premium Final Fantasy VII toys. This involvement led to the launch of Symbiogenesis, a narrative role-playing adventure featuring Ethereum NFT characters, which debuted in December.

The collaboration between Square Enix and HyperPlay

The partnership between Square Enix and HyperPlay will not only include Symbiogenesis, but also exploring alternative distribution methods for games. JacobC, who previously worked as an operations lead at Ethereum wallet MetaMask, explained that traditional gaming platforms and marketplaces often do not support blockchain games due to policies that conflict with the innovation currently taking place.

The partnership aims to “move away from monopolistic platforms that do not have the interests of players or developers in mind,” said JacobC. Hideaki Uehara, the general manager of Square Enix’s investment and business development department, has expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership with HyperPlay, believing that the team at HyperPlay has created an exceptional product that will facilitate game distribution and create beneficial business models for gaming developers will generate.

HyperPlay, which raised $12 million in a Series A round last June, now hosts more than seventy blockchain-based games and aggregates titles from both GOG.com and the Epic Games Store. This marks a significant step forward in the integration of blockchain technology within the gaming industry.