Next Sony PlayStation to Stream Games
Sony Corp. is planning to offer technology to stream games to its next videogame console, people familiar with the company's plans say, alongside other enhancements to bolster its position in the market. — The new technology, to be unveiled Wednesday along …
Context & Ripple Effects
Sony has been widening PlayStation beyond a single boxed-console model: it opened PlayStation Mobile to all developers, said it wanted to work with indie developers on Vita, and brought PlayStation Plus and its Instant Game Collection to the handheld in 2012. That expansion came while Sony was restructuring after a loss-heavy 2012 quarter.
Against that backdrop, the reported streaming plan is significant because it would tie the next console more closely to a service and content-distribution strategy. The plan remains unconfirmed: Sony is reportedly preparing the technology, not announcing a finished offering.
First-order effects
- If Sony implements the reported feature, next-generation PlayStation buyers would gain a way to receive games as streamed services rather than relying exclusively on software running locally on the console.
- Sony would need to treat network delivery and the game library as part of the console proposition, alongside the hardware enhancements it is reportedly preparing.
Second-order effects
- PlayStation developers would have a stronger incentive to publish into Sony's wider distribution channels, which already include an open PlayStation Mobile store and Sony's stated outreach to indie developers.
- PlayStation Plus and the Instant Game Collection become more strategically important because a subscription audience gives Sony an established channel through which to package access to games.
Third-order effects
- If streaming becomes a core console feature, the basis of competition shifts toward the quality of a platform's library, subscriptions, and delivery infrastructure rather than hardware specifications alone.
- Sony's move points to a console-to-service model in which the value of each device grows with the content and developer ecosystem connected to it.
The trend: Console makers are extending hardware platforms into recurring content and service ecosystems, with streaming positioned as a potential bridge between the two.