Square Enix has formally announced plans to shut down its cloud gaming subsidiary, Shinra Technologies.
First established in 2014 to allow developers to leverage games processing with cloud technology, Square conceded that a crippling lack of third-party support led to the closure, and the publisher now expects to post an “extraordinary loss” to the tune of 2 billion Yen for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016.
Per Square:
Shinra Technologies was established with the aim to build a cloud-gaming platform with supercomputer-class capabilities. To retain its neutrality and independence as a platform, Shinra Technologies was formed independently from other content-creating Square Enix entities, and set a goal to raise additional funds for further business operations from third party investors. However, Shinra Technologies has not been able to find prospective investors, and have taken the difficult decision to discontinue its business.
Square expects both Shinra Technologies in New York and its sister site Shinra Technologies Japan to be fully liquidated by March 31, 2019 and June 30, 2016, respectively.
Our thoughts go out to those affected by the closure.
[Sources: Square Enix, Gamasutra, Twitter]
