PS5 in the cloud launches in beta

After starting with only internal testing, Sony is now launching beta access to certain PlayStation 5 games through cloud gaming. For now, only a dozen titles are affected.

Sony announced in June that it was conducting internal tests for the launch of PlayStation 5 game streaming from the cloud. The firm is moving to the next stage at the beginning of August, with the launch, in beta, of cloud gaming for certain PS5 titles. For now, access to this beta is by invitation only.

‘Sony’s xCloud’ launches in private beta

The first returns do, however, mention a good general experience, with the possibility of streaming eligible titles in various definitions, up to Ultra HD (2160p). As on the Xbox Cloud Gaming (formerly “xCloud”), players who already had saves synchronized with the cloud were able to recover them automatically, to resume, in streaming, their game where they had stopped on PlayStation 5.

For now, however, the list of PS5 games eligible for cloud gaming remains quite thin. On the ResetEra forum, one of the users listed only 13 games, including two demos:

• God of War: Ragnarok
• Horizon: Forbidden West
• Fortnite
• Fall Guys
• Destiny 2
• Returnal
• Demons Souls
• death stranding
• Sackboy A Big Adventure
• All-Star Destruction
• Fall Guys
• Demon Slayer (Demo)
• Resident Evil 8 (Demo)

Playing PS5 games in 4K from the cloud will soon be possible

Sony should however include more games over time… and logically before the official launch of this new service. As a reminder, subscribers to PlayStation Plus Premium can already stream hundreds of PS3 and PS4 games, on their PS5, as well as on their Windows PC. It is unknown, however, if the addition of PS5 games to PlayStation cloud gaming will be available on Windows in addition to access on PlayStation 5.

If Sony has been lagging behind Microsoft in last-generation game streaming, it’s not for lack of experience. As rightly pointed out Neowinthe firm was even a pioneer in this market by buying the start-up Gaikai (a specialist in cloud gaming) in 2012, then by launching, in 2014, a first service allowing the streaming of old PlayStation games.

Recently, Kenichiro Yoshida, the boss of Sony, nevertheless admitted that the establishment of a streaming game service remained ” very delicate » and that « challenges still needed to be overcome in order to achieve a satisfying cloud gaming experience on PS5 titles. We will soon have the opportunity to find out if Sony has managed to overcome these difficulties.

Source : Neowin