Rumour: Sony Close to Acquiring Cloud Gaming Firm

Megaton

by Sammy Barker Wed 30th May 2012

Sony is not simply looking to partner with a major cloud gaming firm – it is poised to buy one. That’s according to a report on MCV, which claims the move could “rock the next generation of console gaming”.

We reported earlier this week that Sony was set to announce a deal with a major cloud gaming firm during its E3 press conference, but MCV understands that it will acquire either OnLive or Gaikai ahead of next week’s big show. According to the website’s unnamed source, the deal is “close to being signed”.

The acquisition would have a huge impact on all of Sony’s businesses. Theoretically, by owning the cloud gaming technology, it would be able to stream PlayStation content to laptops, mobile phones, televisions and more. In short: this is massive news for the future of the platform. Sadly, the actual details of the deal are still agonisingly vague.

All will be revealed, we presume, during Sony’s E3 press conference next week.

[source mcvuk.com]

1
get2sammyb
Wed 30th May 2012

Man, what is going on?!

2
shingi_70
Wed 30th May 2012

Probably will be a beta announcement for demos and stuff. Honestly I understand they probably cant do it due to lack of experience in the field but I'd rather them build the service from the ground up instead of acquiring and trying to fit them in. That works with a few things but cloud gaming doesn't seem like one of them.
Does Sony by chance do anything in the cloud currently?

3
KALofKRYPTON
Wed 30th May 2012

A rebranding would really make a lot of sense. OnLive has done reasonably well convincing people that streaming games can work across multiple devices, and if Sony really wants the PS Suite to be that all encompassing- multi-format content hub- then it makes sense. I do hope it's not a huge part of their plans for any future 'console', but then- I'll probably abstain from the next generation if the one use/no trade game plans come to fruition.