is an American company which provides technology for the streaming of high-end video games. Its technology has multiple applications, including in-home streaming over a local wired or wireless network (as in Remote Play between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita), as well as cloud-based gaming where video games are rendered on remote servers and delivered to end users via internet streaming (such as the

PlayStation Now PlayStation Now (PS Now) was a standalone video game subscription service the first on consoles developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The service offered cloud gaming for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable an ...

game streaming service.) Founded in 2008, it was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2012. As a startup, before its acquisition by Sony, the company announced many partners using the technology from 2010 through 2012 including game publishers, web portals, retailers and consumer electronics manufacturers. On July 2, 2012, Sony announced that a formal agreement had been reached to acquire the company for US$380 million with plans of establishing their own new cloud-based gaming service, as well as integrating streaming technology built by Gaikai into PlayStation products, resulting in

and Remote Play.

History

Gaikai was initially (pre-Sony acquisition) funded by

Intel Capital Intel Capital is a division of Intel Corporation, set up to manage corporate venture capital, global investment, mergers and acquisitions. Intel Capital makes equity investments in a range of technology startups and companies offering hardware, s ...

Limelight Networks Edgio, Inc., formerly Limelight Networks, Inc., is an American company that provides a content delivery network (CDN) service, used for delivery of digital media content and software. As of January 2023, the company's network has more than 300 ...

, Rustic Canyon Partners,

Benchmark Capital Benchmark is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco that provides seed money to startups. History The firm's most successful investment was a 1997 investment of $6.7 million in eBay for 22.1% of the company. In 2011, it invested $12 mil ...

, TriplePoint Capital, NEA and Qualcomm. Its streaming service was embedded on game-related websites and microsites, social media site such as

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

, and within specific products (such as smart mobile devices or digital TVs), as determined by the publisher. Users did not need to navigate to an online registration portal or download any software to access the games. Gaikai recommended an Internet connection of 5 Mbit/s or faster, and a 3 Mbit/s connection met the minimum system requirements. Gaikai's proprietary technology ran inside web browsers, in part, by using previously installed plug-ins such as

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

, or alternately without using any plug-ins, as demonstrated at

Google I/O Google I/O (or simply I/O) is an annual developer conference held by Google in Mountain View, California. "I/O" stands for Input/Output, as well as the slogan "Innovation in the Open". The event's format is similar to Google Developer Day. Hi ...

2012, where Gaikai showed a version of the service using the

Google Native Client Google Native Client (NaCl) is a discontinued sandboxing technology for running either a subset of Intel x86, ARM, or MIPS native code, or a portable executable, in a sandbox. It allows safely running native code from a web browser, independ ...

(NaCl). A demo video early on in the service, at GDC San Francisco 2010, showed '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'', ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

'', ''

EVE Online ''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profes ...

'', '' Spore'', ''

Mario Kart 64 is a kart racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was also released for the iQue Player in China in 2003. The game is the second main entry in the ''Mario Kart'' series and is the successor to ''Super Mari ...

'' and Adobe Photoshop all running in Adobe Flash player. In May 2010, Gaikai demonstrated ''World of Warcraft'' running on the iPad using its game streaming technology. Gaikai's technology officially came out of a public Beta test and launched internationally on February 27, 2011, with ''

Dead Space 2 ''Dead Space 2'' is a 2011 survival horror game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 in January. The second mainline entry in the ''Dead Space (franchise), Dead Spa ...

'', '' The Sims 3'', '' Spore'', and ''

Mass Effect 2 ''Mass Effect 2'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the ''Mass Effect'' series and a ...

''.

Services

Gaikai operated two business models for its cloud gaming services before the acquisition: Ad Network and Open Platform. In the Ad Network model, at the end of the demo the customer was given the option to purchase the game or product from a local retailer, online store or direct-to-drive download service. The Ad Network included the Gaikai Affiliate Network which launched on June 2, 2011 reaching over 10 million

monthly active users Active users is a measurement metric that is commonly used to measure the level of engagement for a particular product or object, by quantifying the number of active interactions from visitors within a relevant range of time (daily, weekly and m ...

by late 2011. Websites which joined the network were able to stream high-end PC games as embedded advertising, and in exchange received a share of the marketing revenue generated from games streamed to consumers, who played the demos free of charge. Gaikai-enabled games had been integrated into

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, EA's

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

, and Ubisoft's UBIShop in late 2011. In April 2012, Gaikai launched its service embedded inside

, allowing games to be streamed directly in the Facebook canvas. Meanwhile, the Open Platform model allowed streaming full games to PCs, digital TVs, tablets and smart mobile devices. The first mobile partnership came in May 2012, streaming games to the

Wikipad Gamevice, Inc. (formerly Wikipad, Inc.) is a Simi Valley, California based tablet and tablet peripherals manufacturer specializing in gaming products. The debut product was the Wikipad, a proprietary Android tablet hardware engineered for mob ...

tablet. In June 2012,

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

announced a cloud gaming service powered by Gaikai to stream AAA games to its high end LED Smart TVs.

Acquisition by Sony Computer Entertainment

On July 2, 2012, shortly after rumors on the Internet started to appear,

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the cloud-based service for US$380 million. Gaikai launched their revamped website in October 2012, teasing top PlayStation branded titles including ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been p ...

'', ''

Infamous Infamous may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Infamous'' (2006 film), an American drama film * ''Infamous'' (2020 film), an American crime thriller film * "Infamous", an episode of ''Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinj ...

'' and ''

LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (stylized as ''LittleBIGPlanet''; abbreviated ''LBP'') is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the seri ...

'' among other titles.

Products

Remote Play

On February 20, 2013, Gaikai was announced to be developing the next generation of Remote Play, streaming games from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation Vita. Remote Play between the PS Vita and PS4 launched with the PS4 in November 2013.

Share Play

In late 2014, Share Play was launched, allowing users to play with a friend as if you were in the same room. This system enables users to play as they were watching the same screen remotely, and even virtually handing the controller to their friends.

PlayStation Now

At the January 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony announced the

(PS Now) game streaming service, powered by technology from Gaikai. The service was initially discussed in February 2013, when it was revealed that PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

titles would be made available for Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 console via a new cloud gaming service. At

E3 2013 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 (E3 2013) was the 19th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California with many press conferences taking place at nearby venues including the Nokia Theater, ...

, Sony had announced that the new game streaming service would launch in 2014. At CES it was revealed that in addition to PlayStation platforms (PS4 and PS3 systems, followed by PS Vita), PlayStation Now would come to most 2014 US models of Sony's BRAVIA TV.

Announced partnerships

* June 17, 2010:

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

* July 20, 2010:

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

* July 20, 2010:

* March 8, 2011: Video Games Blogger * April 5, 2011: Bigfoot Networks * June 2, 2011: The Escapist * June 8, 2011
Gamer4Eva
* June 8, 2011:

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

* June 21, 2011:

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

* July 5, 2011: Capcom * August 22, 2011:

CD Projekt CD Projekt S.A. () is a Polish video game developer, publisher and distributor based in Warsaw, founded in May 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. Iwiński and Kiciński were video game retailers before they founded the company, whi ...

* October 11, 2011:

Level 3 Communications Level 3 Communications was an American multinational telecommunications and Internet service provider company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. It ultimately became a part of CenturyLink (now Lumen Technologies), where Level 3 President ...

* October 20, 2011:

* January 4, 2012: Best Buy * January 4, 2012:

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...

* January 10, 2012:

LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest '' chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered a ...

* January 12, 2012:

Green Man Gaming Green Man Gaming is an eCommerce portal from British-based online video game retailer, distributor and publisher, ''Green Man''. It has gained 4.7 million users since its 2010 release. Business model Green Man Gaming works with companies li ...

* March 2, 2012: GAME * March 8, 2012:

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

* April 30, 2012: Gamesload * May 2, 2012:

WikiPad Gamevice, Inc. (formerly Wikipad, Inc.) is a Simi Valley, California based tablet and tablet peripherals manufacturer specializing in gaming products. The debut product was the Wikipad, a proprietary Android tablet hardware engineered for mob ...

* May 15, 2012:

Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

* May 15, 2012: Meteor Entertainment * May 22, 2012:

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartere ...

* June 4, 2012:

En Masse Entertainment En Masse Entertainment, Inc. (formerly Bluehole Interactive, Inc.) was an American video game publisher. Founded in June 2008, the company was based in Seattle, Washington and is best known for publishing massively multiplayer online role-playi ...

* June 5, 2012:

* June 6, 2012: Machinima, Inc. * July 2, 2012:

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaikai American companies established in 2008 Video game companies established in 2008 Cloud gaming companies First-party video game developers Sony Interactive Entertainment Video game companies of the United States 2012 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Aliso Viejo, California 2008 establishments in California