HTC Invests $40 Million In OnLive

Smartphone maker HTC has invested $40 million in cloud-based streaming game service OnLive, hoping to deliver more games to smartphones. According to the Wall Street Journal, in comments to the Taiwanese Stock Exchange confirmed by DigiTimes, this means a purchase of 5.3 million OnLive shares at a value $7.50 each. Although OnLive began serving computers in summer of 2010 and, later in the year, home televisions through its MicroConsole accessory, the service has also begun exploring mobile platforms: it's released a viewer app for iPad that doesn't yet support gameplay, but the company has said it'll add it down the line. OnLive CEO Steve Perlman also recently talked to Gamasutra about Vizio's plans to launch Android-based tablets and smartphones with OnLive built in, for example. The company's progressively closer association with the smartphone and tablet markets raise an interesting question: OnLive's game library is made up of titles that were created with a game controller or mouse and keyboard in mind. When we recently spoke to Perlman about Vizio, he said some publishers, which he would not yet disclose, are retrofitting their existing games for more mobile-friendly touch control with OnLive in mind.