Sony to acquire Gaikai (For Real This Time for $380,000,000 )

[ONQ]

Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that it has acquired the prominent interactive cloud-based gaming company, Gaikai, for approximately $380 million.Through the acquisition, Sony Computer Entertainment will establish a new cloud service using Gaikai's technology, which allows for high-quality, fast interactive cloud-streaming of games onto a variety devices via an internet connection. Sony Computer Entertainment's President and Group CEO, Andrew House, said in a statement: "By combining Gaikai's resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE's extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences.
"SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices."
The CEO of Gaikai, David Perry, said: "SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide. We're honored to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide."
Established in 2008 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Gaikai, was rumored to be looking for a buyer last month, with Fortune reporting that it was looking for a buyer to spend in excess of $500 million.
This story is developing and we will update it when more information is available.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...or-380-million

[KyleOnTheRun]

Thanks for the post, ONQ. We've got this up on our main site as well - Please support PSU by clicking and commenting

http://www.psu.com/a015940/Sony-acqu...nected-devices

[Blacksite]

This could, supposedly, be used to make the PlayStation 4 backwards compatible with PlayStation 3 games, without driving up the cost of the console itself.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

Hmm, I wasn't a big fan of Online and Gaikai due to mixed reports and the need for internet, but I'm interested to see where this goes.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

Wait, is this a deal or has Sony bought Gaikai out? This article and the PSU article conflict on this point. I guess for that sum it could be an acquisition.

[Blacksite]

Wait, is this a deal or has Sony bought Gaikai out? This article and the PSU article conflict on this point. I guess for that sum it could be an acquisition.

Yeah, they acquired the cloud-based gaming service.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

Endless possibilities!

[Wrath]

Man, I'm all over this! Please make cloud gaming become a reality soon for us PS gamers!

[mankind]

I would like if they could let us stream ps3 and ps4 games on the Vita, now that would be cool.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Sony Computer Entertainment has agreed to acquire cloud gaming service Gaikai for approximately $380 million and establish a new cloud service.

The acquisition includes all Gaikai's technology and infrastructure, giving Sony a large network of datacentres to deliver streaming content to its customers.


"By combining Gaikai's resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE's extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences," said Andrew House, group CEO of SCE.


"SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices."


Although Sony spoke of establishing a new cloud service, there was no immediate word on when or how this would be made available, which is likely to fuel speculation that it's a key part of the PlayStation 4 platform.


Reports last month, led by our sister site GamesIndustry International, had suggested Gaikai's technology would be used to re-introduce backwards compatibility to Sony systems by streaming PSone and PlayStation 2 games.


If you're interested in how that might work, it's worth reading Digital Foundry's piece, In Theory: How The Cloud Could Run PlayStation Back-Compat Games.


Founded in late 2008, Gaikai has spent its formative years refining its technology and offering business-to-business solutions that let publishers demo playable games to consumers without the need for expensive console or gaming PC equipment.


As with rival OnLive, which has set itself up as a subscription service for consumers, Gaikai runs its games from the cloud, meaning that relatively weak computers, tablets or even smartphones can run high-end game experiences over the internet. (You can actually see it in action on our own Gaikai page.)


"SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide," said Gaikai CEO David Perry.


"We're honoured to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide."

Source

Can't believe this hasn't been posted yet.

Anyway this will be amazing if used for demos and game trials instead of having to download them.

[ps3isawesome]

http://www.psu.com/forums/showthread...80-000-000-%29

Noob

[keefy]

You still have to have the bandwidth to stream them but if you have its great, doesnt help those with crummy internets and low monthly caps.
Sure I saw somethign about this a few weeks ago

[AaronSOLDIER]

http://www.psu.com/forums/showthread...80-000-000-%29

Noob

Ah well lol, I did have a quick look, bunch of people bumping stupid threads, its their fault.

You still have to have the bandwidth to stream them but if you have its great, doesnt help those with crummy internets and low monthly caps.
Sure I saw somethign about this a few weeks ago

For 1GB demos and ~600MB PS1 game it'll be great, I'm hoping for more to come of this though.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

This is a seriously badass move by Sony. This acquisition offers them a lot of options and further differentiates them from the competition. I will watch developments eagerly!

[ONQ]

Thanks for the post, ONQ. We've got this up on our main site as well - Please support PSU by clicking and commenting

http://www.psu.com/a015940/Sony-acqu...nected-devices

You're welcome.

this could be really big for Sony if they are going to be using this for their TVs , Blu-ray Players , Vita , PS3 , PS4 ,Tablets , Smart Phones , Smart Watches , GoogleTV Boxes ,Glasses & even as a service for iOS & Android devices.

[Bligmerk]

Sony is also providing Google TV, confirmed to come with Onlive. It's difficult to see how all this turns out but next gen console gaming is shaping up to be a lot different from this one.

Cloud gaming shake up: Sony acquires Gaikai, integrates OnLive on its upcoming Google TV
Jul 02, 2012



There are two important cloud gaming services right now: OnLive and Gaikai. And it seems that Sony wants to integrate both of them into their current and future products.

First, it looks like Sony plans to include support for the OnLive cloud gaming service in their upcoming Google TV set top box, memorably named NSZ-GS7. The features of Sony’s set top box will hopefully justify its $200 pricetag, considering that the Vizio Co-Star Google TV is due to arrive for $100, also with OnLive integration.

Sony is making an even bigger move in the cloud gaming space with the just announced acquisition of Gaikai, OnLive’s main competitor, for $380 million. It’s not certain whether Sony plans to support both services in the future or not; my guess is they planned the OnLive integration for a while on their GoogleTV, and when they saw how good it is, they decided to adopt OnLive’s business model by acquiring Gaikai.

The interesting thing about cloud gaming is that it could replace gaming consoles and even make powerful PCs obsolete, by allowing people to play advanced 3D games on low-performance devices, such as $100 set top boxes, tablets, or cheap laptops. If services like OnLive are made available to many affordable devices, or devices you already own, it could turn the console market upside down. Basically, you won’t have just two or three expensive consoles competing for your money, but just about any device will serve as a console.

Of course, with the acquisition of Gaikai, Sony might be looking to keep the service for themselves as a proprietary technology instead of the “open cloud gaming” service that Gaikai called itself until now. As of now, competitors will only be able to license OnLive or make their own similar product.

If cloud gaming really is the future, then Sony is making the right move here, adapting to it early one, rather than fighting it (and losing).

Sauce

[manutdfan]

Good news this you could have ps1, 2, and 3 BC on PS4.

[D3seeker]

As long as the GAMING part of next gen gaming stays in tact, then they pile on all the non gaming gimmicks they want. Now as far as the Gaikai thing as it relates to PlayStation I'm not sure what to think..

[Thorzilla]

Maybe they want to study on Gaikai's technology to finally invest some cash and time into developing remote play for the Vita further as well?

[manutdfan]

Cloud saves on Vita would be cool

[Chille]

Cloud saves on Vita would be cool

Some games do it already mgs vita does cloud save then accessible on ps3 version.

[ONQ]

Sony is also providing Google TV, confirmed to come with Onlive. It's difficult to see how all this turns out but next gen console gaming is shaping up to be a lot different from this one.


Sauce

having Onlive support on the GoogleTV box has more to do with GoogleTV itself, which is also rumored to be part of the PS4 so that would also bring Onlive to PS4 through GoogleTV unless Sony block it somehow which would be silly if GoogleTV is going to be a selling point on PS4 so it would be crazy to gimp it.

[Bligmerk]

having Onlive support on the GoogleTV box has more to do with GoogleTV itself, which is also rumored to be part of the PS4 so that would also bring Onlive to PS4 through GoogleTV unless Sony block it somehow which would be silly if GoogleTV is going to be a selling point on PS4 so it would be crazy to gimp it.

The article does talk about implications:

The interesting thing about cloud gaming is that it could replace gaming consoles and even make powerful PCs obsolete, by allowing people to play advanced 3D games on low-performance devices, such as $100 set top boxes, tablets, or cheap laptops. If services like OnLive are made available to many affordable devices, or devices you already own, it could turn the console market upside down. Basically, you won’t have just two or three expensive consoles competing for your money, but just about any device will serve as a console.

It is somewhat similar to the previous generation where there was a lot of uncertainty about online gaming with consoles due to the majority still being on dial-up. This time, it is IPV6 and Internet-2. Internet-2 is being restricted to universities and R&D but it has more than enough bandwidth to funnel consumer use through it also. We are approaching the time that a 10mbps account is a basic account. The main server-networked client model that Onlive is using is called persistent pervasive computing. It means the client hardware can be fairly dumb and that is what Nintendo is doing with the WiiU controller and how the Android app SplashtopHD allows for playing PC games with a tablet while it is running on the PC.

It will all be in how the licensing done and there are a lot of gamers that don't have low ping high datarate connections, so the likelihood is the PS4 will be a top end stand alone video gaming console with Onlive and GaiKai available on it, much like Netflix and Amazon are there now, needing separate accounts. It will be a shakeup though, if a game on storage media is on sale while its cloud streamed version is also available, on a wider range of much cheaper hardware. Yep, there are transformations ahead.

[manutdfan]

Some games do it already mgs vita does cloud save then accessible on ps3 version.

Ok cool, good to know thanks. Hopefully more games will then.

[UberZman]

Interesting...