Sony (NYSE:
SNE
) has announced that it plans to acquire Gaikai, a streaming
video game service, for $380 million. Founded in November 2008,
Gaikai has had a number of notable investors, including Intel
(NASDAQ:
INTC
), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:
QCOM
), and Benchmark Capital. The company was co-founded by David
Perry, a game developer whose former credits include Earthworm
Jim and MDK.
"SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has
earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide,"
Perry, who serves as Gaikai's CEO, said in a
company release
. "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."
Similar to OnLive, Gaikai allows its users to stream a wide
variety of games to any Mac or PC. The service differs from
traditional online gaming platforms, such as Steam or Origin, by
providing consumers with the ability to play games without the
need for massive downloads. Gaikai is somewhat unique in that it
does not require its users to download an app before playing an
instant demo.
"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,
President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, who was
also quoted in a press release. "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."
This is a change of direction for Sony, which has made
billions
selling
-- not streaming -- games and consoles to consumers. The company
hopes to turn Gaikai into a multi-billion-dollar business by
using its technology to establish a new cloud service.
Unlike Netflix (NASDAQ:
NFLX
), however, streaming game services -- which require a strong and
persistent Internet connection -- have yet to receive mainstream
acceptance. "Nobody wants to be in the middle of a death match
and have the game start to buffer just as they're about to make a
kill," Geoff Keighley, executive producer of GameTrailers TV,
told the
LA Times
last week.
Rumors of a Gaikai acquisition began to spread after
CNNMoney
reported that the company was seeking a buyer that would pay in
excess of $500 million.
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