Nintendo Acknowledges Rise Of Cloud Gaming, But Remains Focused On Hardware

Weirdly enough, Nintendo has been one of the first platform owners to experiment with cloud gaming this gen.

Weirdly enough, Nintendo has been one of the first platform owners to experiment with cloud gaming this gen.

You might not have heard of that before, but Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Resident Evil 7 are both playable on Switch thanks to streaming, in Japan.

So, the company knows, at the very least, what this technology can do and especially how it can help go beyond the limitations of its hardware.

Anyway, while it acknowledges the strength of cloud gaming, Nintendo also believes that software and hardware will keep representing, together, the future of the video games industry.

“I don’t think all games will move to the cloud right now, but the technology is steadily advancing. In the future, I expect that technologies such as the cloud and streaming will evolve further as a way to deliver games to consumers. We must keep up with such changes in the environment,” said president Shuntaro Furukawa.

“On the other hand, I believe that our core value, the unique entertainment experiences that can only be achieved through the development of integrated hardware and software, will further increase in value. Delivering unique entertainment that only Nintendo can create will continue to be our top priority.”

So, Nintendo believes that streaming will be relevant very soon in the industry but also that existing players should not go away from the console business as it will still be a focus for gamers around the world.

It’s a position that Sony and Microsoft are probably likely to embrace, even though they’re preparing for a post-console world with PlayStation Now and Project xCloud. What’s your idea about this?