In Famitsu’s end-of-year column, Yoshinori Kitase of Square Enix discussed his interest in seeing how new technology such as NFTs would influence the gaming industry. He also mentioned that his resolution for 2022 is to further develop popular game series, such as Final Fantasy or Star Ocean. [Thanks, Famitsu!]
While Kitase’s comment on NFTs and the Metaverse seems to indicate an innocuous curiosity as to they would affect the game market and gaming as a whole, Square Enix previously reported that it planned on expanding into NFT games. NFTs already prove to be a success for Square Enix. In October 2021, it launched its first NFT project, with all Million Arthur NFT digital stickers selling out completely.
Though he did not bring up any concrete plans, Kitase mentioned that he interested in taking care of mainstay Square Enix game series. Aside from the aforementioned Final Fantasy and Star Ocean, he also brings up the Chocobo and SaGa series. In recent news, the General Director of the SaGa series mentioned that he wanted to create a non-RPG SaGa work.
Kitase is one of 127 game creators that Famitsu interviewed for its column. Other creators include Hideo Kojima of Kojima Productions, Daisuke Ishiwatari of Arc System Works, and Keiichiro Toyama of Bokeh Game Studio. Yoshinori Kitase is a producer and former director at Square Enix, best known for his work on Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII.
