Square Enix dissolves Shinra Technologies cloud gaming service

By Danny Cowan Published January 6, 2016

Global publisher Square Enix announced that it has discontinued work on its Shinra Technologies cloud gaming platform, citing an inability to court third-party investors for continued funding.

Shinra Technologies was pitched as a unique gaming platform that leveraged cloud computing in order to power large online worlds and persistent multiplayer experiences. The subsidiary has entered the liquidation process, and Square Enix will report a loss of 2 billion yen ($16.9 million) for this financial quarter.

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The closure arrives a little more than a year after the service was initially revealed in 2014. Square Enix previously shipped out development kits to partnered studios, including Republique creator Camouflaj, as part of a developer accelerator program. Former Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada headed up the initiative.

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“Square Enix Group today announced that Shinra Technologies, Inc. has discontinued its business and is currently under a liquidation process,” a Square Enix representative told Gamasutra in the wake of the closure. “Shinra Technologies was established with the aim to build a cloud-gaming platform with supercomputer-class capabilities.”

Square Enix’s statement continues: “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 Enix notes that it will continue to explore cloud gaming technology in the future, but will cease operations at Shinra Technologies effective immediately. The subsidiary’s official website is currently inaccessible.

“This is an unfortunate situation and we are offering all the assistance possible to any employees affected by this,” Square Enix’s representative stated. “We want to thank them for their hard work and sincerely wish them well in the future.”

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