In the course of the current quarter end, Square Enix provides an overview of the current status and a look into the future, where the current corona pandemic is already having a visible impact, both positive and negative.
According to President Yosuke Matsuda, the pandemic is already affecting and stopping developers everywhere, which may result in more games being postponed. However, there are no explicit titles, and here you can see announced and not yet announced games.
A positive effect for the publisher is that digital sales continue to increase and the ratio is already 6: 4. In the future, more and more will shift to the digital area, especially in current times where there is almost only this possibility. This would be much closer to the long-term goal.
Focus on next-gen and beyond
In general, Square Enix is now focusing on the next generation, but also on what comes next (next-next-gen). Here you can see cloud gaming in a larger role. Games are becoming more complex and complex, which could increase the development time to 5 years on average.
Already on the PS5 and Xbox Series X you can see the cloud technology in an essential role, with which games ultimately develop into a social network. This will not only reach 5 to 10 million players, but 100+ million. Games like the current Final Fantasy VII remake would have the potential, according to Matsuda.