PlayStation Now
PlayStation Now, also known as PS Now, was a cloud gaming service operated by Sony Entertainment. Originally named Gaikai and launched on February 27, 2011, it was acquired by Sony on June 2, 2012. The service was relaunched in the United States as PlayStation Now on January 13, 2015, featuring a catalog of games created for the PlayStation 2, 3, and 4. Over 700 games are available to play on the platform.
PS Now subscribers can play games on a PlayStation 4, or on a desktop computer running Windows 10. The game is controlled from the local device, but the graphics processing and game logic are performed on a remote cloud server. The graphics and audio are sent over the Internet to the client device in HD, similar to streaming video services, such as Twitch or Netflix.
Sony recommends an Internet connection with at least 5 Mbps download speeds to achieve optimum gameplay performance. If the client device is not a PlayStation 4, it requires an attached DualShock 3 or 4 game controller, or an Xbox gamepad.
On March 29, 2022, Sony announced it had merged PlayStation Now into Playstation Plus.