Sony has unveiled ‘Playstation Now’ a cloud gaming service that lets users play console quality games via a web connection- and without the need for an actual console.
Revealed at technology show CES, PlayStation Now lets subscribers play some of the platform’s greatest hits, such as last year’s ‘The Last of Us’ and Beyond: Two Souls’ by streaming data from the company’s servers.
The firm’s latest smart TVs will be among the first devices to support it, but Sony also intends to offer the facility to other third-party products.
Sony said it would launch a restricted test of the service in the US later this month before a wider launch in the summer.
It has not provided details of plans for other markets yet or information of which smartphone and table platforms will be the first to get apps to run the facility.
The new facility is based on technology developed by Gaikai, a cloud gaming start-up that the Japanese firm acquired for $380m (£232m) in 2012.
Its rival Samsung had previously announced plans to partner with the firm to let its TVs offer games.
Sony said the service would also allow its new PlayStation 4 console to run titles from the PS3’s library.
Sony is not the first to offer cloud gaming. OnLive has offered a cloud-based gaming platform since 2010, and is already available in the UK- playable via PCS and Android mobiles.
However, it lacks many of the big name titles that Sony will be able to offer.
Sony also used CES to announce that it had sold 4.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles as of December 28.
This compares favourably to rival Xbox One, which sold around 3 million consoles in 2013.
Watch the full, hour long presentation below:
