Square Enix has announced a set of collectible trading cards to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, which will also be available digitally as NFTs.
The Final Fantasy VII Anniversary Art Museum Digital Card Plus collection will be available from March 31, and will feature “art, visuals, and famous scenes” from the 25 years history of the game. As reported by VGC, each 440 yen ($3.30) pack contains six physical cards, and one digital exchange card displaying an alphanumeric code.
According to Square Enix’s website, the collection is made up of “99 types of trading cards, 3 types of another normal cards, 102 types of premium cards (normal cards, foil specifications of another cards), and 3 types of secret cards for a total of 207 types”.
Buyers will need to use the Enjin Wallet crypto currency smartphone application to claim ownership of the digital cards. Once customers have created an Enjin account, and linked the app with the Square Enix website, they will be able to register the code found on the exchange card, and claim one Final Fantasy VII NFT of their choice.
According to Square Enix, it is possible to get an NFT version of each of the 207 cards included in the collection, which, when redeemed, can be viewed on either smartphone or PC.
Square Enix notes that it won’t initially be possible to transfer or resell the cards to a third party. However, a warning post on the product information page suggests that this may be possible with a future update, stating “If we decide to support the marketplace in the future, we will notify you on this [Square Enix’s] website”.
The company also warned that there is a March 31, 2024 deadline for redeeming the NFTs, and that “upon future termination of the service, it may not be possible to view or use your Digital Cards”.
This isn’t the first time that Square Enix has dabbled in NFTs. November 2022 saw the company reveal the “NFT Collectible Art” experience Symbiogenesis, which is currently slated for release in Spring 2023.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) – are digital assets that are recorded on a blockchain, which is a form of unhackable digital ledger that guarantees the authenticity, and ownership of an item.
Developers and publishers have been exploring ways to incorporate NFTs in their games for some time now, but have been met with very little in the way of success. In recent years multiple studios have announced blockchain driven features for their games, only to bail on them with staggering speed in the face of audience backlash.
Early last year Steam boss Gabe Newell made the move to ban all NFT-infused games from the digital marketplace, citing “sketchy behavior”, and “out of control” instances of fraud that were being perpetrated by bad actors taking advantage of the underlying technology.
The energy intensive process of minting new NFTs has also been a cause for concern amongst environmentally conscious gamers, prompting a number of developers to sign an anti-NFT pledge.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
Image Credit: Square Enix
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