Sony promises “one of a kind and only PlayStation” cloud gaming

Game news Sony promises “one of a kind and only PlayStation” cloud gaming

Provided you have a good internet connection, Cloud Gaming allows you to play an entire catalog of titles through a browser without a dedicated console. Remote servers let the magic work on them and give you a high quality experience no matter where you are. At Sony as at Microsoft, the idea of ​​attracting new target groups is inevitably seductive. Redmond is making rapid progress in this area. XCloud, whose streaming game service is already available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on Android, recently expanded to iOS and Windows 10. The PlayStation boss also has new reserves, but prefers to take more time to develop his future product. Jim Ryan tells reporters at Nikkei this week that Sony isn’t ready to reveal its cloud strategy for the PS5 but is talking about an offer. “unique“.

We’re still talking to them (Microsoft) to share ideas and there are some really interesting things. When the time is right, we will announce our cloud strategy.

We could imagine using the cloud for our technical infrastructure, but the cloud gaming experience we offer will be unique and only available on PlayStation.

In 2020 in particular, the ambitions of Sony are ripening, which decides to take a step forward with Microsoft. As the ninth generation console approaches, the two officially announce that they have a “strategic partnership“Announced a year earlier. The aim is to offer the Japanese giant the power of Azure cloud technologies and Azure AI from Microsoft in order to improve the cloud service of the PlayStation brand. Toru Katsumoto, Sony Executive Vice President, explained the process at the time: “Players usually play overnight and there will be server congestion during that time, but there won’t be that much for the day. How can we use the servers more efficiently? This is a technical point and we are discussing it with Microsoft!Discussions are still ongoing, but Ryan is optimistic: “”At the end of the cycle, the cloud can play a certain role. I am more optimistic about the future than I was a year ago.“”

What about PlayStation Now?

Sony currently operates PlayStation Now. The company acquired the cloud gaming company Gaikai in 2012 to leverage its technology and intellectual property for its service, which gives subscribers unrestricted access to a library of 700+ PS4, PS3, and PS2 games. The start is shy. To attract the largest number, it will drop below the ten dollars per month mark in 2019 to match the 9.99 of the Game Pass. And then the catalog will now be expanded to include a few monthly blockbusters for a limited time. For the month of April we were treated with Marvel’s Avengers. In March it was Call of Duty: Black Ops III and WWE 2K Battlegrounds. Finally, the streaming game, which is currently limited to 720p resolution, will be enjoying 1080p in a few days, at least for compatible games.

According to Sony, PlayStation Now would have more than 2.2 million subscribers in April 2020, an increase of one million from October 2019. Despite these efforts, the company is still struggling to attract crowds to the service, especially given a much more popular PS Plus with its 47 million subscribers. In a recently published study, Ampere Analysis says: “The lack of fun games is the number one reason people (…) give up on PS Now”. According to the company, 25% of American and Japanese subscribers out of 8,400 respondents said goodbye to Sony’s offer at the end of 2020 (21% for France)..

Source : VGC