Is streaming the future of gaming? Sony's betting on it.
With the ongoing battle between publishers and retailers over used games—not to mention the fight against piracy—it stands to reason that a move away from physical media is the future for the video game industry. It’s a transition already fully underway in the film industry, with digital movie rentals, sales, and streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime rapidly becoming the preferred method of watching movies at home. Some companies have tried to bring streaming to the gaming market, with OnLive being the most notable, but the big console manufacturers have been mum on the subject. That is, until now. It was announced today that Sony is purchasing Gaikai, another popular cloud-based video game streaming service.