"You've got more and more high-quality free titles so there are even fewer and fewer people inclined to try something that will not be free.”
- Square Enix Montreal head Patrick Naud explains why the studio has no more Go games in development
Square Enix Montreal is stepping away from the series that spawned the mobile games Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go, explaining that the market for premium mobile games just isn’t what it used to be.
Patrick Naud, head of Square Enix Montreal, discussed the shift and the reasoning behind it in a short interview with PocketGamer, explaining that even a $5 price tag has become a high barrier for players looking to pick up a new mobile game.
"A lot of people consume mobile games only and they have all these options, all these games; why should they invest money in this one unless they're very convinced,” explains Naud. “That doesn't mean they won't spend in-game, but they want to spend on a game that they're sure they're going to like. The perception of choice makes it that even if it's only $5, that's too much.”
The Go games themselves attracted a fair amount of revenue and critical praise, he says, but even then only a “small slither” of players were picking up the premium mobile games in Square Enix Montreal’s catalog.