Sony starts testing cloud streaming PS5 games

Sony says it has started testing the ability to stream PS5 games from the cloud. The PlayStation maker says it’s testing cloud streaming for PS5 games and is planning to add this as a feature to its PlayStation Plus Premium subscription.

“We’re currently testing cloud streaming for supported PS5 games – this includes PS5 titles from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and Game Trials, as well as supported digital PS5 titles that players own,” says Nick Maguire, VP of global services, global sales, and business operations at Sony Interactive Entertainment. “When this feature launches, cloud game streaming for supported PS5 titles will be available for use directly on your PS5 console.”

A cloud feature for PS5 games would mean you’ll no longer have to download games to your console to stream them to other devices. Sony currently supports streaming PS5 games to PCs, Macs, and iOS and Android devices, but you have to use your PS5 as the host to download and stream titles to your other devices.

It has seemed obvious for months that Sony was working on cloud streaming for PS5 games. Recent job listings hinted at a new cloud gaming push, and then PlayStation chief Jim Ryan teased “quite aggressive plans” for cloud gaming last month. But Sony went on to reveal its PlayStation handheld, codenamed Project Q, by only confirming Wi-Fi streaming of PS5 games directly from a console.

While Sony still hasn’t detailed whether its PlayStation handheld will support PS5 cloud game streaming, this PlayStation Plus Premium cloud push is clearly a move toward that even if there’s no release date yet. Sony’s CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, hinted earlier this month that the company is still in the early stages of cloud gaming, so perhaps Project Q will still launch (in November?) without this key support.

“We think it’s important for Premium members to be able to enjoy as many games as possible via cloud streaming,” says Maguire. “We’re in the early stages right now, and we can’t wait to share more details when we’re ready, including a launch time frame.”

Sony’s confirmation of PS5 cloud streaming comes more than four years after it unveiled a surprising partnership with Microsoft that would see the companies collaborate to develop future cloud solutions for game and content-streaming services. We haven’t heard much about that deal since 2019. In 2021 PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said Sony was still at the “exchanging ideas” stage, despite an original promise of the gaming rivals exploring the use of Microsoft Azure datacenter-based solutions for Sony’s game and content-streaming services. Given Sony’s recent mentions of AWS in its job listings, the Microsoft strategic partnership could well be over. The Verge