Final Fantasy Creator Square Enix Gets Serious About AR

Could a VR/AR adaptation of the deloved fantasy RPG be on the horizon?

The 2022 Game Developer Conference (GDC) began earlier today in San Francisco, California, kicking off five days of industry-shaking announcements, round-table discussions, and various other content centered around video game development.

A number of high-profile company’s have already begun teasing a handful of exciting announcements, including United States technology company Qualcomm Technologies, who this week announced a new partnership with celebrated video game company Square Enix to develop a new line of AR (augmented reality) games for the Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform.

“Square Enix has always been committed to state-of-the-art game technology to push storytelling boundaries, delivering unforgettable experiences for our fans” said Ben Taylor, Technical Director at Square Enix in an official release. “We have been investing in XR and look forward to building on Snapdragon Spaces. In particular, we think the time is right with XR to innovate on games of a classic genre we are especially known for and look forward to sharing them with the world to further our mission to help spread happiness across the globe.”

“Square Enix has a rich history of bringing in deep storytelling and engaging gameplay that have pushed the potential of new gaming platforms over each console generation,” added Brian Vogelsang, Senior Director of XR Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies. “We’re excited to work together and raise the bar of what’s possible in the gaming with AR glasses using Snapdragon Spaces.”

This wasn’t the only XR-related news from Qualcomm, however. In addition to the new partnership, the company today announced the launch of the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, a grant program designed to support developers working in XR and AI technology. The fund will work in tandem with the company’s other XR-related ventures, including Snapdragon XR Platforms, the Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform, and XR Labs Europe.

“We deliver the groundbreaking platform technology and experiences that will enable both the consumer and the enterprise to build and engage in the metaverse and allow the physical and digital worlds to be connected. Qualcomm is the ticket to the metaverse,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “Through the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, we look forward to empowering developers and companies of all sizes as they push boundaries of what’s possible as we enter into this new generation of spatial computing.”