Square Enix has the Final Fantasy formula down, but can it claim the same with cloud gaming? The company reckons so with Project FLARE, a development it describes as no less than a "technological breakthrough in cloud game architecture."

FLARE is similar to the likes of OnLive or Gaikai, but with a different take on the technology running the service-- according to Square Enix the architecture makes more efficient use of server hardware, with games natively built for the cloud. Or, as the announcement press release puts it, "a unique, patented architecture enabl[es] cost-efficient scalability of processing power, through which images are streamed as video."

According to the company FLARE will offer “Hollywood-quality animation running in real-time to deepen the player’s immersion" and "video streams allowing even existing games to be enjoyed in new ways."

So far such talk is backed with admittedly impressive videos supposedly running on the platform, including a Deux Ex: Human Revolutin demo from initial partner Ubisoft. Otherwise the service is still a long way ahead-- Square Enix hopes to start beta testing around 2014-2015 via cloud-enhanced versions of existing titles.

“We are convinced that our Project FLARE will open the door for a new era in gaming,” Square Enix chairman Yoichi Wada says. “In the game industry, revolutions in both technology and business models have evolved content... Finally, the technological breakthrough has arrived.”

Watch Deus Ex: Human Revolution on Project FLARE

Go Square Enix to Create New Experiences, Games With the Cloud