Sony is preparing to totally revamp its online streaming service as part of their push into the next generation of gaming, according to sources speaking with NerdBacon.
Sony will attempt to offer the ability to play titles from its PlayStation catalog from any device, regardless of whether or not that device is a Sony PlayStation console, a PC, or cell phone. This falls in line with identical efforts from Microsoft, who announced Project XCloud earlier this year. XCloud would also allow players the ability to deliver a console quality Xbox experience independent of Microsoft hardware through their own proprietary cloud based streaming platform.
Similar plans are also underway at Google, who is currently testing Project Stream through January.
While Sony currently does offer the ability to stream a selection PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 titles through their PlayStation Now subscription service, this ability is limited PlayStation 4 and PC’s at this time.
Sony’s new streaming initiative was confirmed by the company itself through a job posting for a software engineer for their cloud gaming division on Greenhouse.io, a job recruitment company, as spotted over on the NeoGaf forums.
The posting specifically stated, “As part of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the Cloud Gaming and Infrastructure team is leading the cloud gaming revolution, putting console-quality video games on any device.”
It’s unclear on whether or not the upcoming cross platform/device functionality will be introduced as part of the PlayStation Now service, or if Sony would attempt to revamp their service and re-introduce it under a different brand name. It’s also unclear whether or not Sony will continue to use the underlying technology that the company acquired from Gaikai, which is the foundation for PlayStation Now in its current form, or if they may be actively seeking a partnership with a larger company in order to combat Microsoft, Google, and most likely Apple.
In any event, the revelation that Sony is preparing to expand its game streaming footprint beyond the PlayStation family of devices adds another intriguing new wrinkle to the next-gen tapestry in 2019.
Written by The Watchman
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