In its annual new year’s letter, Square Enix has revealed that it’s “making steady progress” on development of next-gen console video games and it has a keen interest in developing games that are built exclusively for cloud gaming.
President and Representative Director Yosuke Matsuda said that the competitive landscape is set to change going forward. He expressed his optimism about cloud gaming as 5G takes off in markets where traditional consoles failed to make a significant impact.
Matsuda wrote:
We are not only making steady progress on developing next-generation console titles, but also actively readying ourselves to support cloud gaming, which we expect to take off with the advent of 5G. The arrival of streaming as a new distribution platform will not only further accelerate the transition from the traditional disk-based sales model to digital sales, but could also drive significant change in business models themselves via the adoption of subscription models, for example.
We are especially hopeful about the major potential cloud streaming services possess to expand markets in growing regions such as India and South America, where there has not been significant adoption of traditional game consoles. As telecommunications infrastructure improves, cloud streaming will directly provide customers in such markets with playing environments that eliminate the need for traditional consoles or PCs. From a game development perspective as well, we will strive to create gaming experiences only possible in the cloud, meaning developing cloud-native or cloud-centric games.
Matsuda is of the view that for cloud gaming to gain mass appeal, there needs to be a focus on exclusive gaming experiences alongside better infrastructure and distribution systems. He revealed that Square Enix is already making an effort to develop games exclusively for cloud environment but didn’t reveal any further details.
[Source: Square Enix via Twinfinite]