Sony is buying Gaikai, cloud gaming service, use it to create new service

Couscous

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/173392/Sony_to_acquire_cloud_gaming_studio_Gaikai_for_380M.php

Sony to acquire cloud gaming studio Gaikai for $380M

Sony Computer Entertainment put a significant foot forward into the cloud gaming space today, as it revealed that it has signed an agreement to acquire game streaming service Gaikai.

Gaikai, along with OnLive, is one of the biggest players in the burgeoning cloud gaming market. Various publishers and even Sony have previously predicted that game streaming will play a huge role in the industry's future, as it allows consumers to play titles almost immediately without installation.

Through this acquisition, Sony is planning to build its own new cloud gaming service using Gaikai's resources. The deal cost Sony approximately $380 million, subject to "certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions."

It was rumored earlier this month that Gaikai was looking for a buyer, although the reports indicated that the company was looking for well over $500 million. It was also rumored that Sony would reveal its acquisition of Gaikai at E3, but no such announcement was made at the event, and Gaikai declined to comment on those rumors to Gamasutra.

Andrew House, president and CEO of SCE, explained that the company will now look to deliver cloud gaming and other streaming content on "a variety of internet-connected devices."

He added that SCE is planning to "aggressively expand" its entertainment offerings through the introduction of this technology.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sony-confirms-gaikai-acquisition/098844

"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 CEO Andrew House stated.

"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."

Gaikai’s Perry added: "SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide.

"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."

If you don't know much about Gaikai, it is basically a cloud service that uses cloud computing to demo games. The demos can be embedded in other websites such as Facebook. It is a US company headquartered in California. The name is just there for geekery, I guess.

This is really exciting news. Cloud gaming has been pushed as the Next Big Thing in videogames and Sony buying such a company for $380M suggests they agree to a decent extent.

I hope they realize the potential to put some of that stuff on the PS3 or any PS4. The fact that SCE is talking about it makes it really likely though they can always be stupid and decide to just put it on PCs, TV boxes, etc.

This could be a really fucking big deal. With this, Sony is one of the first major gaming companies to jump into cloud gaming other than just putting up their games on OnLive.

Zephiran

For 380 million, that deal seems like a steal to me. Let's see how they leverage this in the future.

Lindsay Lohan

I would love the option to use that for the 1 hour trials they give Plus members to games. I'd try a lot more demos if I could play them instantly and not invest in the time to download 4 hours of data for a 1 hour demo.

Diarmuid

I think we'll definitely see a Sony branded streaming service on phones & tablets, probably cross-platform like the Smart Glass thing.
I would also assume that they'll be trying to integrate this into the Vita, PS4, possibly PS3 and other devices.

edit: and PC as well, I guess.

plufim

The big advantage as I see it is that streaming games can be more detailed than the system you're using. Perhaps it could be a means of PS3 users to play PS4 games by streaming?

I can't see streaming being the big hook of the next console, since too much of the audience would not have access.

edit: or yeah, it could just be the hook for the next sony TVs - PS3 games streaming.

Lindsay Lohan

I'm assuming that Gaikai brings with it a slew of patents on streaming games over network connections. Could it be a new solution to a more robust PS3 to PSVita remote play as well?

plufim

Huh, that's a thought.

Lanrutcon

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

@plufim Unless the PS4 game in question is 'downsized' to accommodate PS3 hardware, it won't be possible. The game still needs to be rendered via a gpu, etc.

reVerse

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

harvest

Yeah game streaming is just a video feed, with your controller inputs relayed back to the host.

cooljammer00

Yeah, you are remotely controlling a beefy rig offsite, presumably

Local H Jay

Lindsey Lohan wrote: »

I'm assuming that Gaikai brings with it a slew of patents on streaming games over network connections. Could it be a new solution to a more robust PS3 to PSVita remote play as well?

this is what i assumed, since we've not really heard about the remote play option and it's still not around. plus, they said it would only be available for select titles; if they have this streaming service i can see it making the process of making those games remote play compatible much easier.

what i really hope this means is, renting new games straight from the service. we're still far away from buying digital games day one on console, but imagine if you could rent a new game without leaving your house, and instantly? that would sell me on a PS4.

MalReynolds

plufim wrote: »

The big advantage as I see it is that streaming games can be more detailed than the system you're using. Perhaps it could be a means of PS3 users to play PS4 games by streaming?

I can't see streaming being the big hook of the next console, since too much of the audience would not have access.

edit: or yeah, it could just be the hook for the next sony TVs - PS3 games streaming.

I'd think it'd work in reverse; PS4 games would use streaming to play PS3 titles.

Lanrutcon

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

Interesting! but the game software has to be run somewhere, and then the rendered output fed to the user, right? So...I assume they'll have server farms somewhere, running copies of the game for people playing them through their service. And won't that mean latency-based input delays? Also, if the feed is delayed to the user (because of latency, for example) the game itself is still going on wherever it's running, so the feed will need to be sped up to re-sync with the user (or he'll continue to fall further behind) or the game will have to 'auto-pause' while the client's feed catches up.

I'm curious to see if they pull this off.

Zilla360

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

Yup. You can try it here: http://www.gaikai.com/games . Same as OnLive, really.

reVerse

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

Interesting! but the game software has to be run somewhere, and then the rendered output fed to the user, right? So...I assume they'll have server farms somewhere, running copies of the game for people playing them through their service. And won't that mean latency-based input delays? Also, if the feed is delayed to the user (because of latency, for example) the game itself is still going on wherever it's running, so the feed will need to be sped up to re-sync with the user (or he'll continue to fall further behind) or the game will have to 'auto-pause' while the client's feed catches up.

I'm curious to see if they pull this off.

Yes, latency is an issue.

You do realize that they're already doing this, right? Gaikai and OnLive services already exist, it isn't some hypothetical future thing.

MalReynolds wrote: »

plufim wrote: »

The big advantage as I see it is that streaming games can be more detailed than the system you're using. Perhaps it could be a means of PS3 users to play PS4 games by streaming?

I can't see streaming being the big hook of the next console, since too much of the audience would not have access.

edit: or yeah, it could just be the hook for the next sony TVs - PS3 games streaming.

I'd think it'd work in reverse; PS4 games would use streaming to play PS3 titles.

It makes business sense to let you play PS4 games through a streaming service on your PS3. What cloud gaming allows is increased casual user base through cheap streaming hardware/software. With a user base that has been increased in this manner, game publishers are more likely to make games for the system that is being streamed. Also, while the casual audience is playing their games through cloud gaming, the hardcore audience will go out and buy the expensive PS4 hardware because they want the best possible performance for their games.

Lanrutcon

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

Interesting! but the game software has to be run somewhere, and then the rendered output fed to the user, right? So...I assume they'll have server farms somewhere, running copies of the game for people playing them through their service. And won't that mean latency-based input delays? Also, if the feed is delayed to the user (because of latency, for example) the game itself is still going on wherever it's running, so the feed will need to be sped up to re-sync with the user (or he'll continue to fall further behind) or the game will have to 'auto-pause' while the client's feed catches up.

I'm curious to see if they pull this off.

Yes, latency is an issue.

You do realize that they're already doing this, right? Gaikai and OnLive services already exist, it isn't some hypothetical future thing.

Holy crap. No, I did not know! Wow. So anybody here use either of those services?

harvest

Sony would probably prefer you to not actually buy their hardware, so they don't have to lose money on making int. I could see them pushing this really hard once they get it all finalized and integrated into their systems.

Automaticzen

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

Interesting! but the game software has to be run somewhere, and then the rendered output fed to the user, right? So...I assume they'll have server farms somewhere, running copies of the game for people playing them through their service. And won't that mean latency-based input delays? Also, if the feed is delayed to the user (because of latency, for example) the game itself is still going on wherever it's running, so the feed will need to be sped up to re-sync with the user (or he'll continue to fall further behind) or the game will have to 'auto-pause' while the client's feed catches up.

I'm curious to see if they pull this off.

Yes, latency is an issue.

You do realize that they're already doing this, right? Gaikai and OnLive services already exist, it isn't some hypothetical future thing.

Holy crap. No, I did not know! Wow. So anybody here use either of those services?

You can try it yourself. I used it for the Mass Effect 3 demo long ago, worked out just fine.

cooljammer00

harvest wrote: »

Sony would probably prefer you to not actually buy their hardware, so they don't have to lose money on making int. I could see them pushing this really hard once they get it all finalized and integrated into their systems.

So...PS4 games on PS3?

SyphonBlue

Man....$380 mil for a company most people have never heard of and even fewer people have actually used. I'm guessing this was for patents.

Maybe it was $380 mil to change the name from the worst name ever conceived for any company ever in history.

PMAvers

Automaticzen wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

Interesting! but the game software has to be run somewhere, and then the rendered output fed to the user, right? So...I assume they'll have server farms somewhere, running copies of the game for people playing them through their service. And won't that mean latency-based input delays? Also, if the feed is delayed to the user (because of latency, for example) the game itself is still going on wherever it's running, so the feed will need to be sped up to re-sync with the user (or he'll continue to fall further behind) or the game will have to 'auto-pause' while the client's feed catches up.

I'm curious to see if they pull this off.

Yes, latency is an issue.

You do realize that they're already doing this, right? Gaikai and OnLive services already exist, it isn't some hypothetical future thing.

Holy crap. No, I did not know! Wow. So anybody here use either of those services?

You can try it yourself. I used it for the Mass Effect 3 demo long ago, worked out just fine.

Yeah, I actually played Arkham Asylum all the way through to the end via OnLive, and didn't have any problems whatsoever.

Nosf

Seems overpriced for a service that you never hear about. I mean, at least I hear about Onlive and how mediocre it is.

citizen059

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

reVerse wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

How does streaming games work? I mean, if you don't have the various assets available to you locally then they'd have to be streamed realtime as you play. But you can't deliver assets to users in realtime, given that things like textures are often huge and would take time to transmit. You'd need some kind of client installation if you're dealing with modern games.

I'm confused as to how this is going to work, off-hand it seems like it's going to be limited by a variety of factors.

My understanding is that it's basically an interactive video feed.

Interesting! but the game software has to be run somewhere, and then the rendered output fed to the user, right? So...I assume they'll have server farms somewhere, running copies of the game for people playing them through their service. And won't that mean latency-based input delays? Also, if the feed is delayed to the user (because of latency, for example) the game itself is still going on wherever it's running, so the feed will need to be sped up to re-sync with the user (or he'll continue to fall further behind) or the game will have to 'auto-pause' while the client's feed catches up.

I'm curious to see if they pull this off.

Yes, latency is an issue.

You do realize that they're already doing this, right? Gaikai and OnLive services already exist, it isn't some hypothetical future thing.

Holy crap. No, I did not know! Wow. So anybody here use either of those services?

I have a couple of games with OnLive. The experience varies, but the technology works.

I have to laugh, of course, at all the forum "experts" who posted long, detailed explanations of how something like OnLive couldn't possibly work, ever. I mean it's impossible, because PHYSICS!

Gyral

Won't be surprised if Sony turns some portion of this service into a new feature for PSN Plus. "Play from a selection of games for free without having to download the games to your HDD. No waiting!" Not saying that it's a bad thing, but they certainly went into this with plans (patent acquisition, revenue generation, additional online service features).

Unco-ordinated

harvest wrote: »

Yeah game streaming is just a video feed, with your controller inputs relayed back to the host.

Basically yeah, though there are differences in the way OnLive and Gaikai implement their streaming:

"There's a very big difference between the way we're doing it and the way OnLive is doing it. They have to modify the game, they have to get the source code to the game. Gaikai doesn't require modification of the game.

"To give you an example The Witcher II was given to us and them at the same time. We went live with Witcher II immediately and now four or five months later they still don't have that live, and that's because they have to touch the code. The whole structure of Gaikai is about not touching the code. When we show World of Warcraft it's the real thing, it's not like we had to go and tweak it to get it to work. That means that every game in history remains compatible with our solution."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-01-23-full-gaming-streaming-coming-to-gaikai-within-months

It's a very interesting acquisition and you'd hope Sony have some pretty good plans for it. Improving remote play, giving access to demos without downloading them and adding backwards compatibility are all things that could improve their products right now.

Lindsay Lohan

While I'm fairly certain it won't happen, Gaikai once showed off WoW running on their client. Could you imagine if they used Gaikai to get it on the PS3/Vita? I could see an announcement with "Starting this winter you can play many of your favorite PC games exclusively though PS3 including World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 and see where the story began with Mass Effect 1" would be a pretty significant development (and a fun slap to Microsoft).

SirUltimos

There was a rumour about this happening a little before E3. Looks like something has actually come of it. If Sony implements their services and technology well this could turn out to be a really big advantage.

Morninglord

I'd be more interested in this if I wasn't living in the land of unreliable shit internet.
Pretty cool for people with a good connection though.

I'm fairly sure I'd rage if my game was stopped because my isp dropped out again.

OneAngryPossum

I wonder how a service like this impacts their financial structure. A huge chunk of the benefits that come with being the console manufacturer is gathering licensing fees. Is that something that's collected on a per-game sold basis or on a per-title basis? I've always assumed the former, and unless Gaikai requires an individual copy of the game per running instance then this whole thing could have some significant impacts on how console manufacturers make their money.

Sejarki

I am excited to see how an established company uses this. The main issue with OnLive and Gaikai (in my mind) have been their limited libraries, and the fact that they're, well, unknowns. So suddenly having a big name push this sort of service in conjunction with the power of their backlog of games and the ability to flesh out their recent library? This can work very well.

I've always found Gaikai and OnLive's focus on twitchy FPS/Action/Racing games a bit much. I know the services want to prove they can handle it, but at the same time there's nothing wrong with just going around such skepticism and throwing a ton of turn based games out there. Playing an RPG and being able to seamlessly take turns on whatever device I have nearby? Sounds great. Push that more. Play out a few turns of Civilization on my phone, or Vita, or whatever, then maybe when I get home just switch over to my computer without issue and finish my conquest.

cooljammer00

OnLive is an unknown?

I keep forgetting that perhaps I'm not who this sort of stuff is for.

Sejarki

The service has only been up a few years. I mean, how confident are you that they (and your hypothetical library) are going to be around for the indefinite future? It's something people consider.

wakaranai

Though I don't know what Onlive's patents entail, I can foresee Microsoft buying Onlive and trying to sue the pants off of Sony. Microsoft does have a good relationship with Perlman after all.

If that happens and Gaikai doesn't have patents to defend itself, I can see this ending badly for Sony.

Polaritie

Sejarki wrote: »

Playing an RPG and being able to seamlessly take turns on whatever device I have nearby? Sounds great. Push that more. Play out a few turns of Civilization on my phone, or Vita, or whatever, then maybe when I get home just switch over to my computer without issue and finish my conquest.

I was skeptical about whether I'd care. Then I read this. This would be awesome.

maximumzero

Wonder if maybe they'll sell two PS4s: One cloud-based for dirt cheap but with a monthly fee, and the other full-priced with the standard retail/digital/discs/downloads model.

Henroid

If they use this to bolster PSN Plus, hot damn, good move. But if they do anything separate from PSN Plus with this, I'm going to be nervous for Sony. They need to build up their already existing properties, not create new ones.

The Ender

I have to laugh, of course, at all the forum "experts" who posted long, detailed explanations of how something like OnLive couldn't possibly work, ever. I mean it's impossible, because PHYSICS!

It doesn't work as the OnLive team originally marketed it, and for all of the reasons that the tech experts were saying at the time: video compression and the way that ISPs handle data packets. There are also limitations in terms of the location of the data center streaming the video vs where it's being streamed to, because of the speed of light.

OnLive does work. Nobody said, "This cannot work."

OnLive has very large latency issues & artifacting video issues. That's what all of the experts said at the time, and what the OnLive team repeatedly denied. Games that require sensitive cursor movement are almost unplayable,a lot of the FPS offering look terrible because of all of the artifacts

Henroid

I was definitely skeptical of OnLive and the fact that it ended up working has blown my mind. But anyway that's beside the point.

Gaikai being bought by Sony is actually the first time I've heard of it.

wakaranai

The Ender wrote: »

OnLive does work. Nobody said, "This cannot work."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-why-onlive-cant-possibly-work-article

I get what you're saying, but I just thought this was funny to point out!

Dehumanized

yeah, this could be huge

or sony could squander it in sonyesque fashion

gaikai will become the greatest Playstation Home distribution platform ever designed