Sony on The Cloud: It's "absolutely inevitable"
It would seem that Sony is indeed preparing to embrace cloud gaming - will PS4 offer a cloud service?
While companies like Gaikai and OnLive continue to push ahead with cloud gaming technology, the console manufacturers are still very much focused on selling you a physical game disc. Even the next-gen hardware from Sony and Microsoft are very likely to play discs, but Sony is clearly evaluating how to offer a cloud service - it's just a matter of when.
Speaking to GamesIndustry International during E3, when we asked Scott Rohde, Sony Worldwide Studios vice president about cloud technology, he commented that it's "absolutely inevitable that it's going to be a part of what everyone does."
He added, without getting into specifics on cloud gaming, "It just makes sense. And so, over the next five years, you're going to see everything evolve to that state because people want access to their data anywhere."
Rohde declined to say whether Sony is actively preparing a cloud games service. "Will there be a streaming service? Will there be a partnership? I'm not going to answer those questions right now. But, like I've said ten times, like a broken record, the industry is always evolving," he stated.
That said, Rohde's boss, Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida was a bit more forthcoming in a talk with MCV. "We're looking at what OnLive is doing, and the tech around that, and considering how this can be a part of PlayStation," Yoshida said.
The problem right now for Sony is that web infrastructure is not consistent across territories and some gamers would not be able to enjoy a PlayStation cloud service.
"When there are faster internet connections, gaming in the cloud as a subscription service could become a reality," Yoshida acknowledged.