You might think that after watching the steady erosion and collapse of blockchain and NFTs in general and in the gaming space after 2022, the obvious conclusion would be to quietly accept that this is not welcomed or wanted and it’s probably best to abandon any ill-conceived ventures built upon that framework. But you’re not Yosuke Matsuda, who has penned another new year’s letter in which he insists that the consistent failures actually mean that now there are more opportunities for the company to break in and succeed.
That’s going to be the major takeaway from the letter; while much of it is concerned with the changes to the global economy and the natural challenges resulting from same, Matsuda is steadfast in his assertion that blockchain technology is the future and an untapped market:
Multiple blockchain gaming events held overseas recently produced more active discussion than ever before about what makes the games exciting and what their user community looks like. The market was driven more by speculative investors than by gamers though 2021. In other words, the content that was at the forefront was created based on the premise that blockchain and NFTs should result in monetization. However, in the wake of the aforementioned turbulence in the cryptocurrency industry, there is now a trend to view blockchain technology as a mere means to an end and to discuss what needs to happen to achieve the end of delivering new experiences and excitement to customers. I see this as a very beneficial development for the future growth of the industry.
You can read the entire letter, but it is worth noting that a number of projects announced in 2022 following this particular economic system have universally failed to materialize. One of the highest-profile examples was Legends of Aria with its change in business model, with a token that crashed so badly an entirely new token was created that has also crashed in value and prompted further structural changes. So, you know. Grains of salt.
