Investors put $4M into new game streaming startup LiquidSky

Samsung and other investors have poured $4 million in funding into LiquidSky, a startup that aims to stream access to high-powered virtual PCs to internet-connected devices like phones and tablets.

If that sounds familiar, it's because LiquidSky is basically in the same business as game streaming companies OnLive, Gaikai and Shinra -- all of which were acquired (by Sony) or shut down in the last few years.

However, unlike those platforms it doesn't seem like devs will ever have to worry about additional work to put their games on LiquidSky's platform. The service is built to stream access to a virtual desktop (or "SkyComputer") with persistent online storage that customers can use to do anything from download/run games to render video.

In this way LiquidSky seems careful to keep its options open by describing itself as a "desktop-as-a-service" company, though it markets itself primarily as a platform for streaming games. LiquidSky's streaming platform operates on either a pay-as-you-go or subscription basis, and is currently in a closed beta with roughly half a million users.