PlayStation 4’s game streaming experiment enters a key phase tomorrow.
Sony said it will launch its long-awaited PlayStation Now as a closed beta test on the PS4 video game console starting tomorrow.
Acquired originally from its $380 million purchase of Gaikai, Sony’s PlayStation Now will enable people to play games that they haven’t downloaded over a connection to Sony’s game library in the cloud. This so-called cloud gaming enables players to get access to an older library of games without a lot of hassle — though we don’t know the pricing model yet.
PlayStation 4 users who have registered for the PlayStation Now beta will receive a code for downloading it on the PS4 soon as the beta test expands.
Sony has already been running a private beta for PlayStation Now on the PS3 for a while. It plans to expand that PS3 beta test in the near future. You will also be able to play the library of games on Bravia TVs and the PlayStation Vita.
The technology works off the cloud-based game streaming technology first designed by Gaikai. It streams PS3 games, such as The Last of Us and God of War: Ascension, to the PS4. Sony plans to roll out the PlayStation Now service publicly this summer.