Sony announced today that it has begun testing cloud streaming for “supported PS5 games”.
In a new PlayStation Blog post, Nixk Maguire, VP of Global Services, Global Sales, and Business Ops at SIE, said the end goal for PlayStation is to make this “an additional benefit” to those subscribed to the Premium tier of PlayStation Plus.
“We’re currently testing cloud streaming for supported PS5 games – this includes PS5 titles from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and Game Trials, as well as supported digital PS5 titles that players own,” Maguire said. “When this feature launches, cloud game streaming for supported PS5 titles will be available for use directly on your PS5 console. That means as a Premium member; it’ll be easier to jump into your favorite games without downloading them first onto your PS5 console.”
This announcement comes at an interesting time. PlayStation has previously dabbled in cloud gaming by way of PlayStation Now (before it merged with PS Plus to provide the current iteration of PlayStation Plus), but the company recently announced a new handheld device simply known as “Project Q“, which is capable of playing games installed on your PS5 and streamed over a Wi-Fi connection.
Additionally, Sony has been a vocal opponent of Microsoft, a big player in the cloud gaming space currently trying to acquire Activision Blizzard. Earlier this month, Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida warned that cloud gaming is still technically “very tricky“. Yoshida’s quote came after the UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) announced it was blocking Microsoft’s acquisition on the grounds of concern about the potential for Microsoft to make games in Activision Blizzard’s portfolio, such as Call of Duty, exclusive to Xbox Cloud Gaming. While Microsoft is appealing the CMA’s decision, the company is also facing pushback from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which successfully requested a US federal judge to block the deal temporarily.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
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