Final Fantasy producer Naoki Yoshida has reportedly said he believes the rollout of 5G mobile networks will soon attract players away from games consoles.
That’s according to a report by theFinancial Times(paywall), which claims theSquare Enixexecutive stated that the improved streaming speeds would “herald the long-term demise of the dedicated games console” as a primary medium for gaming.
“Once 5G becomes the global standard, there will definitely come a time when we can transfer images to any device,” Yoshida is quoted as saying.
“Players can enjoy a high-quality gaming experience on any device by not being tied to a gaming hardware or TV monitor. We’re definitely heading in that direction, and I don’t think coronavirus will slow this shift,” he added.
“With home consoles, you need to sit in front of the television . . . and turn on the power and wait for the hardware to start up, so it was a time-consuming entertainment,” Yoshida said. “With stay at home, there were more opportunities to turn the switch on.”
Many corporations are currently pushing cloud gaming services, includingMicrosoft,Amazonand Luna. However, sales of games hardware seemingly hasn’t faltered, withPlayStation 5currentlythe fastest selling video game hardware platform in US history, according to market research firmNPD Group.
Microsoft hasn’t providedXbox Series X/Sshipment figures, but it has also claimed thathardware revenue is up significantlyyear-over-year “driven by continued demand” for the new consoles.
Sony Interactive EntertainmentCEOJim Ryansaid in April that the company wasdevising a cloud strategythat will be “unique and only onPlayStation”.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s head of gaming was seemingly still hopeful ofmaking the company’s xCloud streaming service available on rival console platformsas of August 2020.
