Square Enix Shuts Down Cloud Gaming Platform Shinra Technologies

Square Enix has announced the closure of its cloud gaming platform, Shinra Technologies. The news was shared by the company earlier today via its website.

The press release details "booking of an extraordinary loss" of approximately $2 billion yen ($16.8 million) and cites a lack of investors as one of the reasons for the company's dissolution. More details from the announcement are as follows:

"STI, 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."

Shinra Technologies was first announced in September in 2014 during Tokyo Game Show. The cloud gaming service allegedly differentiated itself from similar services by allowing developers to use the power of multiple servers, providing more resources for better physics and greater graphics in order to create new games. The company was based in New York, and also focused on developing cloud technologies. An office is Japan will also be shut down.

Shinra Technologies was led by former Square Enix president Yoichi Wada. Early last year it picked up indie developer Camouflaj, who is best known for its action stealth game Republique. In late 2014, it was reported that Just Cause 3 developer Avalanche Studios was working with Shinra Technologies for the game's multiplayer mode.

GameSpot interviewed Yoichi Wada and senior vice president of business Jacob Navok earlier last year, during which they acknowledged the risk of venturing into a new frontier of game development.

"One way to think about this is that this is an industry of software, and software is built by engineers, and engineers want to do new things. The only thing that stops them is the business people," Navok said.