Gaikai announced today that Facebook will be receiving a cloud gaming service and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.
As if we needed another reason to spend all our time on Facebook. According to our source, a cloud gaming company named Gaiki recently confirmed at the Cloud Gaming Conference in Europe that it would be bringing its video game streaming service to Facebook. Part of the service will include offering demos of “high-end gaming titles” playable directly from one’s Facebook account.
The highlight of the conference, however, was the announcement that Blizzard’s massive multiplayer online RPG World of Warcraft would be available as part of this service. With this addition, Facebook will not only have a stranglehold on casual gaming, but also one of the world’s most addictive titles out there.
The way the service works is that players will need to set up an account and fill out a simple registration process. Once that’s done, they will be able to stream the games directly to their computers, much like how video is done these days. Users won’t have to install any files locally, as the programs will be hosted on high-end servers that will handle the bulk of the processing power.
I assume that user’s computers will still need to have a decent video card and at least the minimum specs required to play the title. However, the real selling point of this process is that players will be able to access games quicker than ever. In a few simple clicks you could be playing just about any game of your choice.
This move is almost certainly going to help revive World of Warcraft as the game has seen its player base begin to abandon ship recently for free-to-play alternatives. With its new free-to-play mode, and by making it available over Facebook will open the title up to, Blizzard will be pushing their product in an 800 million strong market.
The beta for the Gaikai service launches last February, and is moving forward to making this service a reality at some point this year.
In other gaming news, check out Capcom Bar Menu and Uncharted: Drake’s Devotion.
