The head of Square Enix has declared that console gaming as everyone knows it will die out in the next decade, and that the company is preparing for it.
"In ten years’ time a lot of what we call ‘console games’ won’t exist," said Square Enix chief Yoichi Wada in an interview with MCV.
Wada claims that the budding method of selling games through digital distribution, streaming, and server-based offerings will eventually lead to a new era of gaming that will wipe out software run on hardware. He warns that "all the distributors and sales firms will suffer a big negative impact."
Wada even pointed out the recent slow shift Microsoft and Sony have made through Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network as a sign of the change.
"Somewhere around 2005 the console manufacturers’ strategy shifted," he said. "In the past the platform was hardware, but it has switched to the network. A time will come when the hardware isn’t even needed anymore."
Square Enix is preparing for this change by increasing the production of social and browser-based games in its Japan studios, according to Wada. The company will also be closely following the 2010 beta of Final Fantasy XIV, the second MMO of the franchise.
"Social and browser games are going to grow dramatically – especially in areas like Asia which does not have as big a console market," he said.
[MCV]
