The producer of ‘Final Fantasy’ says that 5G will end the long reign of the gaming console

The emergence of 5G as a global standard will herald the long-term demise of the dedicated gaming console, although the Covid-19 pandemic has driven short-term demand for machines, said one of the most prominent figures in the Japan in the production of games.

The prediction of Naoki Yoshida, a Square Enix director who oversees the development of the blockbuster Final Fantasy i Dragon Quest , arrives despite demand for Sony’s PlayStation 5 exceeding supply and Nintendo’s Switch sales continue to exceed forecasts.

But the improved transmission speed and a long-term distance from television, as the main medium for games, could change that.

“Once 5G becomes the global standard, there will definitely come a time when we can transfer images to any device,” Yoshida told the Financial Times in an online interview.

“Players can enjoy a high-quality gaming experience on any device by not being tied to gaming hardware or a TV monitor. We’re definitely going in that direction and I don’t think the coronavirus will slow down that change.” added.

The gaming industry and analysts are stubborn by themselves cloud based games and the entry into the market of technology groups, such as Google and Amazon, will eventually put an end to the gaming console. The machines, which date from the mid-1970s, have proven to be resistant to predictions of their imminent demise.

Yoshida is best known for resurrecting role-playing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn after its catastrophic debut in 2010. More than a decade later, the RPG series is one of the most popular online games, with 22 million registered users worldwide. Its next Final Fantasy XVI it is also being produced by Yoshida.

Square Enix has benefited from blockages that increase demand for home entertainment. For the fiscal year ended March, the group’s operating profit increased 44% from a year earlier to an all-time high of .200 47.2 billion ($ 430 million) after the launch of Remake of Final Fantasy VII and other new game titles.

“With home consoles, you have to sit in front of the TV. . . and turn on the power and wait for the hardware to start, so it was a time-consuming entertainment, ”Yoshida said. “With the stay at home, there were more opportunities to turn on the switch.”

Still, after last year’s extraordinary gains, the industrial research group Newzoo forecasts that the console market will decline 8.9% to $ 49.2 billion as gaming companies come up with supply constraints caused shortage of chips.

While the pandemic has forced gaming companies to adopt a more flexible work environment for their artists and programmers, Yoshida acknowledged some drawbacks of not being able to physically interact during game development.

“It’s hard to read the atmosphere when you’re online, so people started asking questions all the time through chats,” he said. “Initially we thought it would be more comfortable online, but there were unexpected blind spots.”