Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Cox Communications and other US cable firms are planning to replace consoles with their own cloud gaming service, Bloomberg claims.
Citing people “with knowledge of the matter,” the publication says that early trials of cloud gaming services are “likely” to begin later this year so that the carriers can perfect the technology before wider deployment in 2013. Further carriers are aiming for a 2014 release of their services. The report adds that the cable company’s cloud services aim to provide both casual titles and full-on, AAA console-like games.
Mitch Lasky, a partner at venture firm Benchmark Capital and an early investor in Gaikai, told Bloomberg:
It makes perfect sense why they would want to go after this market. Streaming games use a ton of bandwidth and really benefit from good networks. But it’s a gnarly execution problem they’re trying to solve.
With cloud gaming pioneer OnLive declaring bankruptcy only recently, the risks of entering the market are clearly high, but with a market valued in the billions, it’s clear why businesses could be interested in keeping a piece of the pie.
