Cloud nine: Sony buys Gaikai for $380 million

It's been confirmed that Sony has bought Gaikai, David Perry's cloud gaming service, for $380 million.

As a result of the deal, Sony's users will be able “to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices," said SCE boss Andrew House.

Said Gaikai founder David Perry: “Sony has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide.

“We’re honored to be able to help Sony rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide.”

The buy will be seen as a key indicator of how the console market will develop in the next generation. Both PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox are expected to release in 2013.

You heard it here first

The move has been heavily rumoured over the past months. News that Sony was close to a cloud acquisition was broken by VG247 before E3.

Perry backed away from the talk, but confirmed Gaikai and Sony had been in negotiations.

CNN Money reported in late June that Gaikai was actively seeking a buyer, and was aiming at a $500 million deal.

Gaikai's profile has accelerated to the top-flight in recent weeks, with the firm's system being shown running in Chrome at Google I/O 2012.