You know what no one could ever have predicted? That a market based on imaginary ownership of infinitely duplicable jpeg images might not be end-game, long-term sustainable. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the NFT market is "flatlining," down 92 percent from last September. Which makes it just the most incredible time for Japanese publisher Square Enix, famed for properties like Final Fantasy, to sell off most of their Western-facing IP and studios to gamble on the batshit scheme.
Yesterday we learned that Square Enix is intending to sell Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal to the monolithic The Embracer Group, along with IPs for games like Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Thief, and Legacy of Kain. Why? Because, to quote Squenix, "the Transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud." Which is to say, its previously announced desire to milk the NFT/blockchain market.
The WSJ doesn't mince words in its reporting. The opening line is simply, "The NFT market is collapsing." Citing not only that 92 percent fall in sales, but also the extraordinary drop of "active wallets" by 88 percent since November.
This is partly due, it seems, to the rising interest rates that are strangling the poorest, but in turn is causing the richest to be far less risky in their speculation. And you can't get much more speculative than betting on mass delusion of jpeg ownership.
Hilariously, as the WSJ reported last month, his reason for not parting with it for this over-payment of $14,000 is, "because I think the value of this NFT is far greater than you can imagine," and "whoever wants to buy it, must be worthy." Unfortunately for us, many games publishers are betting on this one-legged horse, and the consequences could be bleak. From Square Enix to Ubisoft to Sega to Team 17 to Zombie Atari to Konami to GameStop, this industry is thigh-deep in this bullshit.
NFTs were always going to be a bubble, and no doubt they'll have little spikes, resurgences of interest with each new nonsensical twist, reaching nowhere near as high as 2021's but allowing the True Believers to keep duping themselves and others for a while to come. But let's hope that this news of a market collapse is finally enough to scare the games industry away from this ludicrous money pit. We've reached out to Square Enix to ask if the news has given them any pause.
