Items tagged with cloud gaming
Gaming is one of the fastest-growing forms of media we have today, thanks in part due to the pandemic that has kept people at home. However, people would typically need a console or PC to game on, but that becomes less of a problem with the advent of cloud gaming. Now, Microsoft is trying to “bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet” by bringing Xbox and Xbox Game Pass with cloud-based gaming to more screens. Interactive entertainment and video games are central to Microsoft, as “Games build bridges and forge bonds, generating mutual empathy among people all over the world,” explained Xbox Head Phil Spencer in a blog post released today. “When...
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Late last year, Amazon announced its Luna game streaming service to compete with Google Stadia and Microsoft Project xCloud. Previously, it was an invite-only “early access” program, but after months of feedback and improvement, the gaming platform will be available to new customers. Today, Amazon announced that Fire TV customers can download the Luna app and play games with a 7-day free trial to Luna+. After the trial is up, the subscription renews at $5.99/month during the early access period. Customers can also sign up for the $14.99/month Ubisoft+ channel to access both new and old Ubisoft titles on the platform. If you do not have a Fire TV, you can still sign up and request...
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When GeForce NOW launched, NVIDIA's cutting-edge gaming service supported streaming games that were rendered in cloud data centers to devices running a dedicated app. Over the course of 2020, the company opened up its cloud gaming service to browsers, starting with Chrome on ChromeOS. Adding GeForce NOW support to Safari on iOS devices also allowed NVIDIA to skirt Apple's apparent ban on game streaming subscription services that might compete with Apple Arcade subscription services. NVIDIA seems to be getting the hint that more users is always better, as the company has now opened up support for Google's Chrome browser on Windows and macOS. Providing browser-based solutions for traditional...
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Last month, it was announced EA Play, and Xbox Game Pass were partnering to provide an expansive game library. Now, Ubisoft is partnering with Amazon Luna and Google Stadia to provide competition in the cloud gaming sphere with Ubisoft+, the rebranded UPLAY+. This service will launch with a beta on the Amazon Luna platform on November 10th and will cost $14.99 per month. Cloud gaming has become one of the hot topics of the year, and everyone wants in. At $14.99 per month with unlimited access to over 100 games, Ubisoft+ is comparable to Xbox’s Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Conveniently, this new subscription from Ubisoft is launching the same day as the Xbox and EA Play subscription,...
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Microsoft, Amazon, and Google all now have cloud gaming streaming platforms, and Facebook is not a company to be left out in the cold. Today, Facebook has announced that it launched “several cloud-streamed games in the Facebook app and on browser — playable instantly, with no downloads required.” This streaming service will not be like the others; however, as Facebook claims it will be launching with native mobile games to kick things off. The typical idea of game streaming services is to bring PC-based games to all platforms, as Microsoft did with Project xCloud. Facebook is doing it differently, though, as the company writes that it is “not spinning off a separate cloud...
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Google Stadia may not be the service we hoped it would be right out of the gate, but perhaps it will get there someday. Inching closer, Google has added a few more games and features to the mix, including Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, a "massive new story expansion, bringing tons of material to both single-player and multiplayer," and a new display option. Starting with the games, Google has made available Jotun: Valhalla Edition available to purchase on Stadia for $14.99, as well as Sundered: Eldritch Edition for $19.99. Both of these are hand-drawn titles by developer and publisher Thunder Lotus Games. Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is also available, priced at $39.99 as just the expansion. However,...
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Amazon may have started out primarily as a seller of books, but it was not long after that it also got into the business of video games, among other things. From those humble beginnings, Amazon has experienced exponential growth. It is also a major player in the cloud space, and it will apparently leverage its related assets into taking on Google Stadia and GeForce NOW in the cloud gaming sector. Of course, Stadia and GeForce NOW are two different beasts—Stadia is sort of a hybrid distribution and game streaming platform (players have to purchases title through Stadia to play them on the platform), whereas GeForce NOW is more like having a gaming PC in the cloud to play your existing library...
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Subscribing to the Stadia Pro tier is supposed to net players several perks, the highlight being the ability to play games at a 4K resolution (3840x2160) at 60 frames per second—it's one of the main selling points for the $9.99 per month subscription fee. Be that as it may, some users have voiced concern that Stadia's 4K gaming experience is not living up to expectations. In the lead up to Stadia launch, Google did plenty of chest puffing, especially in regards to how its cloud gaming service stacks up to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in horsepower. According to Google, Stadia can delivers 10.7 GPU teraflops of performance, which is more than the Xbox One X (6 TFLOPs) and PS4 Pro (4.2...
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Are the console wars transitioning to the cloud? Not so fast—both Microsoft and Sony have already shared a few detail's about each company's next-generation game console (Project Scarlett and PlayStation 5, respectively), and those won't even reach retail for another year. At the same time, however, companies are making plays in cloud gaming, and Amazon might be gearing up to throw its weight into the category as well. The spotlight is on cloud gaming right now because Google just launched its Stadia platform. Stadia is as ambitious as it comes—it's been likened to a Netflix for games, though the comparison is not entirely accurate. Still, the idea of playing games powered by servers...
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Well, we can't say that we saw this one coming. Two bitter rivals in the console gaming market have announced the formation of a new partnership that will see Sony and Microsoft collaborating on "direct-to-consumer entertainment platforms and AI solutions." Sony's Kenichiro Yoshida and Microsoft's Satya Nadella At the center of this new tie-up between the gaming powerhouses is Microsoft's Azure datacenter solution. Microsoft already uses Azure for the backend of its own streaming Xbox-relating gaming services, but Sony is looking to tap into Azure to power its own game streaming and content streaming services for the PlayStation platform. Microsoft's own xCloud gaming service will launch...
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The SHIELD Tablet is only a few months old, but NVIDIA is already updating the device with a freshly minted OS, a refreshed SHIELD Hub (and other NVIDIA apps), and access to the company’s newly upgraded GRID Game Streaming service. A number of new Tegra K1 optimized games are arriving as well, as well as a new game bundle which includes one of the best reviewed PC games of all time. We’ve already mentioned that NVIDIA had an Android Lollipop update on the way for the SHIELD Tablet, but we have a few more details to share today. The SHIELD Tablet Android Lollipop update will feature the new “material design” interface and improved app performance, according to...
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Ever since Sony cut a major deal for the Gaikai cloud gaming service, pundits have watched to see how the company would integrate the technology into the PlayStation product line. At CES this week, Sony finally took the wraps off that announcement and the initial program looks amazing. The upcoming PlayStation Now service will stream games from central servers to the PS4, PS Vita, PS3, TVs, tablets, and smartphones. Sony says PSNow will be supported on "most" of its upcoming 2014 Bravia televisions, but hasn't announced any additional partnerships with specific hardware vendors. The company claims that users will be able to "stream popular hits and classic games from the PS3 library, first on...
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Most companies, when caught removing something from a game box that the publisher meant to put there, might express shame or at least pretend it was an accident. Not GameStop. Yesterday, news broke that the massive retailer had given orders to open all copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and remove the coupon for a free copy of the game, courtesy of OnLive. OnLive, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, is a gaming service that streams titles to a diminutive MicroConsole (if you want to play on a TV), or can be set up to stream titles directly to a Mac/PC. It's an online service that purports to be the future of gaming through digital download, and while it's not exactly in Steam's league,...
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