Yeah, I do put my own money into dividend-giving ETFs and sector ETFs and index funds. But for funsies, I'm contemplating taking up more speculative selections that are funded only with the cashback that's deposited into my bank account.
Round 1: Square Enix. They're getting approached by activist investors who are growing more aggressive. Yeah, Final Fantasy 14 is steady, but I can't name another good live service offering from them (and FF14 had to be rebooted to be good). Final Fantasy 16 was fun for me, but a Devil May Cry-style game with day 1 exclusivity to PS5? That's too niche. Final Fantasy 15's development cycle is something that should have been shut down by adults in the room at multiple points. I'm ignoring Kingdom Hearts bc this is a shared custody situation with Disney, so not 100% comparable to homegrown IP imo.
Point is? It's giving EA right before the buyout, we've got the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest IP, but I think the modern operations are too mismanaged. I'm not wasting my own money, but credit card cashback is fine. Either way, either they figure out how to appeal to old+new fans and stop flailing with stuff like Final Fantasy 7: the bald-faced cash grab edition, or they end up a target for a hostile takeover. Like, if I get paid, it's whatever.
With my own HYSA interest, I did get Capcom bc of the incoming Resident Evil game (after a bunch of critical acclaim and millions of copies sold post-reboot). Also, Monster Hunter has a hold on casual gamers and they have an arcade division that's doing fine. And they're investing in a potential new IP with that robot kid. Planning to sell a bit if Resident Evil does well, then holding some indefinitely. Considering the work they did to rehab Resident Evil, I think that if they give another dormant IP this treatment, it may do well.
And yeah, I also picked up Sega with some cashback. I'm not taking that one seriously.