Sony is seemingly looking to control the game streaming business. Having formerly acquired Gaikai, they’ve now wholly acquired OnLive, a rival game streaming platform.
OnLive shared the news over on their official Twitter account:
It is with great sadness that we must bring the OnLive Game Service to a close. Sony is acquiring… Read More: http://support.onlive.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/237/
The deal is sealed, with Sony obtaining the rights to OnLive’s intellectual properties (including any patents) and their services. Sony hasn’t officially announced what spurred the decision, but we can all make the assumption that it was for the company’s assets.
OnLive has stated that users who still use the platform will have all their games, saves, achievements, and more taken offline and subsequently deleted, after April 30th. They do mention that “if you purchased a Steam game from OnLive, that game will still be available on Steam”, so there’s at least some kind of semblance of ownership for Steam users.
Other developers have been working on their own game streaming platforms, the most notable probably being Square Enix’s Shinra Technologies.
We’ll keep you guys posted.