Square Enix Could be Planning More AR Games After Space Invaders Collab

gamerant.com:

While Square Enix may have recently downsized its core gaming operations by shedding its Western studios, the publisher is intent on continuing to deliver all manner of games both JRPG and not. One of the recent highlights, in particular, is the production of its augmented reality Space Invaders game for mobile phones, which should soon enter its play testing phase.

Keeping that in mind, a specific Square Enix patent that's recently been submitted implies that the publisher is already looking at other augmented reality projects in parallel with the Space Invaders game. Namely, this patent seemingly references systems and features that may be outside of Space Invaders' feature set, and could hint at some of SE's future releases.

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A collaboration between Square Enix Montreal and Taito, the AR Space Invaders game was announced last year, and its production seems to be coming along rather well. Square Enix isn't twiddling its proverbial thumbs in the interim, however, and the new patent effectively describes AR widgets that players can interact with to improve the user's engagement. By interacting with these virtual objects, players could control the provided AR experience in a number of ways, with the patent citing an «operation, movement, and a state change,» depending on the given context.

While it is entirely possible for such a system to be used for the referenced Space Invaders game, the reason this patent seems unlikely to be related is that the game is almost available for play testing. A patented control scheme would, therefore, have to have been submitted way earlier. Since this is a fresh listing, instead, the obvious implication is that