Intel, Limelight Invest In Cloud Gaming Service Gaikai

Intel Capital and on-demand software company Limelight Networks invested an undisclosed amount of money into David Perry-led cloud-based gaming service Gaikai, the companies said Tuesday. Emerging cloud-based gaming companies like Gaikai and the recently-launched OnLive are gaining interest from tech investors and partners that want to make gaming more commercially viable and accessible to a broader PC-using audience. The latest Gaikai investment adds to previous funding, including $10 million from a mystery investor and $5 million from Benchmark Capital. Gaikai is slated to launch in summer this year. Gaikai already has a relationship with Intel, as the service's cloud-based technology utilizes Intel CPUs. Gaikai and OnLive have data centers that handle the brunt of a game's computing requirements. Users can then access games instantly and remotely without installing the game on a local hard drive. Gaikai's initial business model is built on allowing gamers to try out computer games simply by clicking on a game company's web advertisement. That ad would send users directly to a game with no installation required. Perry said Limelight's content delivery experience and network also offers opportunities as Gaikai continues development. "Partnering with Limelight to leverage their globally distributed, high-performance platform will help ensure that the fidelity of our cloud-based gaming service is as graphically rich and responsive as a traditional console experience," he said in a statement. In June, Gaikai announced that it partnered with Electronic Arts to stream titles including The Sims, Battlefield: Bad Company, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Medal of Honor and Need For Speed through the service.