decrypt.co
Japanese game publisher Square Enix—creator of the smash Final Fantasy series—announced that it is working with PC gaming platform Elixir with the aim of furthering Web3 game adoption.
Elixir offers both traditional and Web3 video games on its platform and recently integrated the popular Epic Games Store library onto its platform. With Square Enix onboard, Elixir hopes to further merge the now-distinct worlds of Web2 and Web3 gaming.
“This partnership with Elixir Games represents yet another step for Square Enix to explore the promise of Web3-decentralized gaming,” said Square Enix Director of Business Development Hidaki Uehera, in a statement.
While little has been revealed about how Elixir will work with Square Enix, Elixir CEO Carlos Roldan believes it will help bring Web3 games to mainstream audiences.
“This partnership brings us closer to Web3 gaming mass adoption,” he said in a statement. “Our team is incredibly excited to bring our technology to work, and we foresee Elixir users playing Web2 and Web3 games alike without distinction.”
“2023 has already seen more industry leaders enter the space with impactful projects, and we anticipate to see more as the year progresses,” Roldan added. “We’ve put all efforts to ensure we are ready for scalability.”
INTRODUCING EPIC GAMES IN ELIXIR.
Play any game from @EpicGames in your Elixir Library seamlessly.
😍 +1000 games next to your fav web3 games
🔥 New UI for games discovery
👀 TOP 10 games
🗃️ Keep the launcher open on the system trayGet started now in https://t.co/Uzosu52jzR pic.twitter.com/k5JEvsoPuF
— Elixir Game Launcher (@elixir_launcher) February 17, 2023
Square Enix has been outspoken about the potential for Web3 gaming for years, even leading an investment round into metaverse game The Sandbox in 2020.
President Yosuke Matsuda wrote in early 2022 that such crypto game economies are a new technology that’s “here to stay.” Matsuda previously said that in Square Enix’s view, 2021 was “Year One” for NFTs. And in late 2022, Square Enix announced its first Web3 game, Symbiogenesis, which will leverage Ethereum scaling network Polygon for its NFT elements.
Elixir has added a number of Web3 games to its launcher, offering a range of titles across Solana, BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Polygon—like MMORPG World Eternal Online, quirky card battlers like Raini: Lords of Light and Elemental Raiders, and RPGs like Chronos and Bornless, to name a few.