PlayStation Now announced at CES

by Johnny Cullen on 07 January, 2014

PlayStation Now has been announced in Las Vegas at CES 2014 by Sony Computer Entertainment group president Andrew House.

The service, the long-talked about cloud-streaming plan that's been in the works following SCE's acquisition of cloud company Gaikai in June 2012, was given a name to go on after it was first mentioned nearly a year ago at the 2013 PlayStation Meeting used to introduce PlayStation 4.

PS Now will stream PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 games through devices such as PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, but also Sony Bravia TVs, Xperia devices and, eventually, any internet-connected device that isn't just made from Sony. That means soon, you could be streaming a PlayStation game on a non-Sony branded tablet. White Knight Chronicles or Uncharted on an iPad sounds a realer possibillity tonight than it did 24 hours ago.

House, speaking at the opening keynote of CES 2014 by former Sony Computer Entertainment boss and current Sony Corp president Kaz Hirai, confirmed a closed beta will begin in America for the service at the end of January, with a full rollout by this Summer in the US. No word was given on a European rollout, although Eurogamer recently suggested it could be 2015 before EU sees PlayStation Now.

While no RPG titles were announced as part of Now's announcement - expect that to happen at E3 - it was confirmed the first two titles that would support it would be Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls, both of which are playable on an Bravia TV and Vita through PS Now on the CES showfloor.

House remarked in the official press release: "We are thrilled to deliver entertainment experiences only possible from PlayStation through our new streaming game service.

"PS Now will allow users to engage in the world of PlayStation, whether they’re existing fans or have never owned a PlayStation platform."

House also announced during his time on stage that PlayStation 4 had sold through 4.2 millon units worldwide as of December 28, 2013. The system launched in mid-November in the United States, followed by a late November release in Europe. It'll release in Japan on February 22.

You can watch the entire keynote in the embedded Youtube video below: