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The NFT market is collapsing just as Square Enix prepares to go all-in

The NFT market is showing worrying signs of collapse, just as legendary Japanese video game publisher Square Enix prepares to dive right in.

The NFT market has been living rent-free in the collective consciousness of the video game industry for quite some time now. Square Enix, the publisher behind classic series such as Final Fantasy, Deus Ex and the recent Tomb Raider games, appears to have bought into the hype.

Only a few days ago, it was announced that Square Enix is prepared to sell a solid chunk of its IP portfolio to finance more NFT market investments. IPs the company will lose the rights to include Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Thief and Legacy of Cain.

square enix deus ex
Image: Deus Ex: Human Revolution /

It should be noted that the studios and titles Square Enix are selling aren’t their own original creations (such as the Final Fantasy series). Nonetheless, they aren’t exactly chump change, so you’d think they are pretty confident in the future of the NFT market.

Unfortunately, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, the future of NFT markets appears to be anything but secure. Since last September, the market is down 92%, while the number of active ‘wallets’ has fallen 88% since November.

And sure, while it’s true that sometimes the best time to invest is when a market is crashing, this doesn’t seem to be the case here. The significant drop in interest and investment coincides with a time when much of the world’s population is facing cost-of-living pressures.

nft market crash
Image: Final Fantasy VII Remake / Square Enix

This tells us a few things, but perhaps most important is that the kind of person that invested in the NFT market is now struggling. Or, to phrase this situation another way – they aren’t the kind of investor you want to copy.

However, that appears to be precisely what Square Enix is doing, even going as far as to sell off valuable assets and inadvertently increasing their exposure to the associated risks.

This still might turn out to be a clever piece of business. Square Enix is hardly the only entity to be seduced by the potential dividends of the NFT market.

But there’s an old saying that feels devastatingly relevant to this whole situation: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And let’s be real – Square Enix had a hell of a bird in Tomb Raider.