Hirai: Extended reach of PlayStation Now game streaming bodes well for devs

Sony’s new game streaming service PlayStation Now is part of the firm’s strategy to extend its games beyond the firn’s devices, says Kaz Hirai.

Speaking to Engadget, the Sony CEO said the move bodes well for developers, as it stretches the reach of PlayStation to an even wider audience of tablet and smartphone users.

Hirai stated that the console firm had wanted to develop the service for a long time, and with the improvements in broadband speeds and its $380 million acquisition of cloud-gaming company Gaikai, it was now able to make this a reality.

"PlayStation Now is actually something we’ve always talked about but was not able to deliver because of network restrictions, latency issues and what have you," he said.

"But now we have acquired Gaikai, a while back, we’ve been working with them to really deliver a PlayStation experience through the network with the least amount of latency and ease of use.

"What that allows us to do is not only deliver PlayStation content to PS3, PS4 or Vita, but down the road, it’s going to allow us to provide the same PlayStation service or content to tablets and smartphones, whether they be on Android or on iPad, for example. And that really expands the world of PlayStation beyond the Playstation specific consoles.

"And I think it bodes well certainly for PlayStation, game content creators, and most definitely the customers."

PlayStation Now was revealed yesterday at the Consumer Electronics show, and will allow players to stream PS3 games to their PS3, PS4, Vita and Sony Bravia Smart TVs. Sony said it also plans to bring the service to other platforms, including smartphones and tablets, including those not made by the company.

The scheme will go into beta later this month, and will let consumers rent games or pay for a subscription service featuring a larger library of titles, similar to how Netflix works.

PlayStation Now is expected to go live in North America during the summer.

A UK and European date has yet to be announced, with Sony citing broadband issues and varying network providers as potential problems for the service.