Sony has confirmed that it’s currently testing its own PlayStation 5 cloud streaming service.
Hang on.. can’t you already stream PlayStation games via PlayStation Plus? You can if you’re a PlayStation Plus Premium subscriber but it’s limited to PS1, PS2, PS3 and some PS4 games. Streaming is not currently enabled for PlayStation 5 games.
So, Sony’s plan is to enable cloud streaming of PS5 games not just for PlayStation Plus subscribers but for anyone who owns the digital version of a game. In other words, you’ll be able to play PS5 games without having to download them. Given how big some PS5 games are and how scarce SSD space can be, that’s something we’ll definitely welcome.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate currently offers players the ability to cloud stream, or cloud play, many Xbox Series X|S titles. Could it be that Sony has decided to try and catch up with Microsoft? Not precisely, there’s likely another reason for this push.
Sony is launching “Project Q”, a handheld console that allows you to stream PlayStation 5 games. The technology naturally needs to be in place for this to work though, in theory, Sony could let you stream PlayStation 5 games on any device.
We’ll be especially curious to see whether you’ll be able to stream PS5 games on a PS4. That may sound like madness but Microsoft’s service allows you to play Xbox Series X|S games on an Xbox One and we wouldn’t be surprised if Sony followed suit.
Sony has explained, via the PlayStation Blog, that the project is in its early stages. But unless Project Q gets canned this is definitely going to happen.
