Here’s Why Gamers Are Splurging on Square Enix’s Quirky NFT Characters

Source: symbiogenesisPR / Twitter

The Japanese gaming giant Square Enix has sold all character non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the first auction for its upcoming game Symbiogenesis.

Square Enix is the publisher of titles such as Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragon Quest. The company’s new projects are bound to draw major attention.

As reported earlier, the company decided to hold the auction in three phases between November 27 and December 3.

Notably, there was no public mint. Users had to join the Allow List Entry Campaign to mint NFT Characters.

It’s reasonable to suggest that this has contributed to the exclusivity aspect of the game.

Meanwhile, Phases 1 and 2 allowed users to bid only on one character. This means that more sought-after characters will see their prices rise swiftly.

And those who were outbid were allowed to move on to raise bids on a different character.

Furthermore, additional perks and rewards for top players were available along the way. Though not everybody enjoyed these, describing them as ‘overcomplicating things.’

The mint price for all phases started at 0 ETH. Bidding could be made in 0.01 ETH increments.

Winners will use these NFTs to log into the game, which is scheduled for launch on December 21.

Sold Out

Square Enix launched only 500 NFTs for Chapter 1 of the game. Ten were allocated for the first phase, 90 for the second, and 400 for the third.

On November 4, the team announced that “all 500 characters from Chapter 1 were minted.”

Source: symbiogenesisPR / Twitter

Some characters sold for over 1 ETH (currently $2,203). For example, Calyx went for 1 ETH, Newt for 1.3 ETH, and Wart for 1.6 ETH.

Murasaki was purchased for 2 ETH and Mistletoe for 2.06 ETH.

An additional selling factor is the combination of characters, story, and worldbuilding.

In this game, humanity has managed to survive the pollution by living on the Floating Continent. However, a Dragon attack puts everything in danger.

The World Mission is the last of the game. This story has multiple endings and will change depending on this mission.

Only three people who completed all the missions and collected special items will be able to participate in the World Mission.

What’s in a name?

Another potential price contributor may be the quirky side of the NFTs – specifically, names.

The Protagonist’s name is Chroma (not for sale).

There is a character called Fungus, for example. He was sold for just above 1 ETH. Another is Warehouse, sold for 1.4 ETH.

Other characters have names like Lumber, Timber, Chamomile, Arm, Navigation, Kind, Lovesickness, Handshake, Cactus, Protein, Tattoo…

This looks like a string of random words. They don’t even seem connected to the character’s appearance. It remains to be seen how, if at all, the names reflect characters.

Final Fantasy, on the other hand, features Cloud Strife, Sepiroth, and Yuna.

While Final Fantasy has Noctis Lucis Caelum, Symbiogenesis has Instruction. While the former has Vincent Valentine, the latter has Beverage.

Some may find this naming witty, others nonsensical.

Either way, perhaps it is due to the combination of the above-mentioned factors, in addition to notable character designs and naming choices, that the gamers are willing to splurge on these NFTs.

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