New Sony Patent Suggests PlayStation Cloud Gaming Could Come To Popular Streaming Devices
It's clear that cloud gaming is here to stay. Microsoft made a big push with it by offering it as a Game Pass Ultimate add-on, providing many of the service's newest additions in instant-access streaming form. You can play directly on Xbox, of course, but Microsoft has since brought the service to major mobile devices and web browsers too.
Sony isn't new to the streaming game either, with the company having used the cloud for its own PlayStation Now service, which was similarly rolled into the premium PlayStation Plus tier. With it, gamers can play classic titles from almost any PlayStation era, from the PS1 all the way up to some of the latest PlayStation 5 games, all without having to download them. While the service still requires a PlayStation console, a newly revealed patent suggests Sony could be looking to offer a mainstream device that will offer streaming functionality in a form factor that's portable and much more affordable.
Which company will launch its cloud gaming stick first?
According to the patent, Sony is developing a "pass-through device for cloud gaming," with examples likening it to products like the Amazon Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, and Roku. It broadly suggests integrating the service with existing ones, the same way Microsoft offers Game Pass streaming on Samsung TVs.
While the patent mostly conceptualizes the service as an add-on for any streaming-oriented device, it could foreshadow an actual product offering. There's nothing suggesting Sony couldn't eventually create its own hardware, which is something its rival Microsoft is also toying around with.
This would be an advantageous development in the current landscape of console gaming, where PlayStation 5 unit supply is still spotty and fairly costly for many households to invest in. Not only would Sony be able to offer contemporary games to more people, but it could do so at a much lower cost barrier.
Sony seemed reluctant to go all-in on subscription-based gaming services heading into this generation, but with the explosive success of Xbox Game Pass (Microsoft reportedly makes close to $3 billion in annual revenue on Game Pass alone), it's likely concluded that it can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines and wait for its flagship hardware to turn a profit on its own.