Square Enix shuts down its cloud gaming company, loses £11.5 million

Despite talking up its cloud gaming service just six months ago, Square Enix has made the decision to close down Shinra Technologies. Shinra was set to be a cloud gaming service, that would render graphics through ‘the cloud' and create a “groundbreaking experience not possible with today's current gaming technology”.

The shutdown notice was spotted by Eurogamer on Square Enix's corporate website, which said: “A couple of wholly-owned subsidiaries of the company have decided to dissolve and liquidate, and as a result, the company will book an extraordinary loss”.

It seems that the closure is partially down to a lack of investors: “Shinra Technologies Inc., as a cloud platform operator, has been trying to raise funds necessary for further business operations from third-party investors. However, STI has found no prospective investors at this point, and, therefore, has to discontinue its business.”

Due to the closure, Square Enix will be losing two billion Yen or £11.5 million here in the UK.

KitGuru Says: Square Enix hadn't shown off much of its cloud gaming technology but it did appear to have high hopes for it back in 2014. Unfortunately, it looks like investors just weren't interested in the cloud gaming concept. 

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