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‘Symbiogenesis’ is some NFT garbage from Square Enix, not a ‘Parasite Eve’ revival

<p>Square Enix (https://www.engadget.com/tag/square%20enix/) has revealed (https://twitter.com/symbiogenesisPR/status/1588034548591341568) that Symbiogenesis, an upcoming project that was widely rumored to be Parasite Eve-related, is actually something else — and it's centered around NFTs (non-fungible tokens) (https://www.engadget.com/nft-explainer-digital-art-collectibles-blockchain-environment-business-investment-cryptocurrency-153023551.html). The publisher described Symbiogenesis as "its first digital collectible art project designed from the ground up for Web3 fans."</p><p>Symbiogenesis takes place in a self-contained world containing a large cast of characters that can be collected as NFTs. Square Enix says you'll be able to use these digital artworks as profile pictures on social media accounts (https://www.engadget.com/meta-creators-can-sell-nfts-directly-on-instagram-220049106.html), something you definitely wouldn't be able to do by simply taking a screenshot.</p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><div id="e256b247f64541c7957e692e3c3130f5"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NFT Collectible Art Project
SYMBIOGENESIS
Untangle the Story
Spring 2023#SYMBIOGENESIS (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SYMBIOGENESIS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)#symgeNFT (https://twitter.com/hashtag/symgeNFT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)#NFT (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)#NFTProjects (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFTProjects?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)pic.twitter.com/Kk1JvMdQx4 (https://t.co/Kk1JvMdQx4)</p>— SYMBIOGENESIS (@symbiogenesisPR) November 3, 2022 (https://twitter.com/symbiogenesisPR/status/1588034548591341568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)</div><p>In addition, you can use your character "in a story that takes place in an alternate world where the player can ’untangle’ a mystery by completing missions that revolve around questions of the monopolization and distribution of resources," Square Enix said in a press release (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221103005086/en/SQUARE-ENIX-Announces-SYMBIOGENESIS---A-Digital-Collectible-Art-Experience-for-Web3-Fans). That's somewhat ironic, given that the entire perceived value of NFTs is derived from artificial scarcity.</p><p>The publisher will start selling NFTs (which will likely be on the Ethereum blockchain) in spring 2023, alongside the debut of "a free browser service" on Google Chrome. The browser-based approach makes some sense. Symbiogenesis wouldn't make it onto Steam, which banned NFT games last year (https://www.engadget.com/steam-ban-cryptocurrency-nft-trading-blockchain-valve-165038811.html).</p><p>This is one of the highest-profile stabs at an NFT-driven gaming experience yet. However, the NFT market has cratered this year (https://qz.com/the-nft-market-is-down-by-almost-every-metric-1849655660). Gamers have largely rejected NFTs too.</p><p>Last December, it emerged that Ubisoft had sold barely any NFTs (https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-nft-quartz-ghost-recon-blockchain-140720063.html) in Ghost Recon Breakpoint, the first title in which it employed blockchain tech. A few weeks later, an Ubisoft executive claimed players would benefit from having a marketplace where they could buy and sell NFTs of in-game items, "but they don't get it (https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-nft-executive-response-155250977.html) for now." In April, Ubisoft announced that the game wouldn't receive any more content updates (https://www.engadget.com/ghost-recon-breakpoint-updates-ubisoft-nfts-142920408.html), effectively putting the game on ice and diminishing whatever value Ghost Recon Breakpoint's NFTs had.</p><p>It seems Square Enix is facing an uphill battle to make Symbiogenesis a success. It's not a surprise that the company is moving in this direction after announcing in January that it would invest in blockchain games (https://www.engadget.com/square-enix-blockchain-games-173640368.html). Square Enix sold off (https://www.engadget.com/embracer-acquires-eidos-square-enix-montreal-and-other-studios-for-300-million-091019083.html) some of its more notable Western studios this year and it initially planned (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/square-enix-wants-to-acquire-and-establish-new-studios) to plow much of the proceeds into the blockchain and other tech before walking back (https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/square-enix-says-crystal-dynamics-and-eidos-sale-wont-be-invested-in-nfts-and-blockchain/) on that plan.</p><p>Meanwhile, Square Enix may have to try to placate fans who were convinced (https://www.polygon.com/23438504/parasite-eve-symbiogenesis-square-enix-trademark-nft-web3) that Symbiogenesis was actually a revival of 1998's Parasite Eve (https://twitter.com/TheSphereHunter/status/1584245805048729601). After the publisher registered Symbiogenesis as a trademark last month, some pointed out (https://www.gematsu.com/2022/10/square-enix-trademarks-symbiogenesis-in-japan-bandai-namco-trademarks-dream-match) that the term means “the merging of two separate organisms to form a single new organism" — which is one of the foundations of Parasite Eve's story. While that connection is somewhat tenuous, it's hard to blame fans for being (https://twitter.com/Qdamle/status/1588139184619130880)upset (https://twitter.com/Wildbergerrrr/status/1588129724223692800) and disappointed (https://twitter.com/GrimYuubi/status/1588132325115760648) that the project is ultimately an NFT grift.</p>

Source: ‘Symbiogenesis’ is some NFT garbage from Square Enix, not a ‘Parasite Eve’ revival (https://www.engadget.com/square-enix-symbiogenesis-nft-parasite-eve-155218372.html?src=rss)