Blacknut brings a big name in video games to its capital.
The Japanese publisher Square Enix, at the origin of the
Final Fantasy
and
Dragon Quest
sagas , becomes a shareholder and strategic partner of this French company specializing in “
cloud gaming
”, that is to say the streaming of video games.
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“
We are bringing several strategic players into the capital of Blacknut, who will bring us content and help us with the cloud infrastructure but also in customer acquisition
”, explains
Le Figaro
its CEO Olivier Avaro.
The expected total of these investments will exceed 10 million euros.
“
The idea is to join forces with players who will help us consolidate our business.
»
Based in Rennes, Blacknut currently has 35 employees, compared to 10 in 2019. It markets a family catalog of more than 500 video games to around twenty telecom operators in 45 countries.
These operators, such as Telecall, Clecom, M1 or Telecom Italia, can thus enrich their fiber and 5G subscriptions with a gaming offer accessible without downloading on smartphones, televisions and tablets.
First projects in 2023
What will the merger between Square Enix and Blacknut lead to?
The two parties remain discreet on this issue.
One can easily imagine that the catalog of the French company will be enriched with works from the Japanese publisher, which will thus gain new distribution channels.
But Square Enix could also launch its own streaming subscription, like a Disney+ video game, which would be based on Blacknut technologies.
Or design games that include a cloud component.
The CEO of the Japanese group had outlined these prospects at the start of the year.
"
We are exploring the cloud universe from two perspectives: content distribution, and the creation of cloud-based content that will offer consumers new forms of entertainment
," said Yosuke Matsuda in January.
Square Enix has chosen not to turn to major cloud gaming players such as Google, Amazon and especially Microsoft, which is making the cloud version of its Game Pass subscription the pillar of its video game strategy.
"
Alternative players such as Blacknut can attract video game publishers who do not wish to be more dependent on large platforms
", underlines Olivier Avaro.
“
We share a lot of usage data with our customers, and they can take their share of the capital.
»
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Blacknut believes it can be the technological brick of future cloud gaming services driven by publishers in the sector.
"
And thanks to our links with telecom operators, we could help distribute these offers around the world
," continues Olivier Avaro.
The first projects with Square Enix should see the light of day in 2023.