Sony to Buy U.S. Videogame Streaming Service BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI
TOKYO—Sony Corp. agreed to acquire U.S.-based Gaikai Inc., which specializes in streaming videogames over the Internet, for about $380 million.
The acquisition, made by the Japanese firm's videogame arm, comes as the industry prepares for a shift from a decades-old model of playing games on disks or cartridges in dedicated machines toward playing games on any Internet-connected device.
Playing games online hasn't spread as rapidly as streaming video or music over the Web because games tend to require more data. As a result, downloading a game can take hours and lags in transmission speeds can affect game play.