OnLive gaming set to shut down after selling patents to Sony
Gaming service OnLive is shutting down after selling 140 of its patents to Sony.
The California-based service, once valued at $1.8bn, ran into trouble in 2012 after finding itself in $40m in debt.
The service then seemed less appealing to viewers – many of whom had switched to options much like Netflix, which allowed them to play as much as they wanted for a flat fee.
Just a year ago, the OnLive launched a cloud service, but even that went poorly as the cost to sign up was slashed in half after only a month.
"It is with great sadness that we must bring the OnLive Game Service to a close," a message on OnLive’s site read. “As the first-ever game streaming service of its kind, everyone who has ever played a game using OnLive has contributed to the technology and its evolution in some way.”
Regardless of the shutdown, Sony is poised to apply all acquired patents to its current lineup.