LiquidSky to Set the Future of Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming

For those who are unfamiliar with cloud gaming, let us explain the basics. Cloud gaming is a type of online gaming based on video streaming or file streaming, allowing users to play a variety of games across various devices. PlayStation Now for instance allows gamers to choose from a handful of PlayStation 3 games to play on other systems such as PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, PlayStation TV, Sony BRAVIA TVs, smart TVs, and Windows computers. Nvidia’s GeForce Now on the other hand offers a wide range of PC games, presented to be played remotely on devices such as Shield’s Portable, Android TV and tablets.

LiquidSky’s own world

LiquidSky uses the same principal, allowing access to a central cloud computer – called SkyComputer – where all the PC games from Steam, Origin, and Windows Store are virtually located. From there the games are streamed from the cloud to your PC, Mac, Linux or Androiddevice. In order to bring the service worldwide, LiquidSky currently holds 13 data servers and offers 1Gbps download and 100Mbps upload speeds.

Users can choose between three SkyComputer tiers: Gamer, Pro and Elite, which is the most complete one. The Elite tier offers 32GB RAM, 1 TB of storage, and 240 SkyCredits per hour, besides allowing running any game on 60 FPS (frames per second) and 1080p. SkyCredits are LiquidSky’s virtual currency, used to purchase more time to play on these virtual PCs. According to the company, the Elite plan (charging $9.99 per month) provides 4,800 SkyCredits, which is enough for 80 hours of gameplay. The best feature is yet to come as the free plan also allows you to earn SkyCredits. While this seems promising enough, in order to earn credits you need to watch ads from a specific list of advertisers.

All these plans will most likely change as the service gets launched in full force, with the Elite plan being expected to be at least 4 times more powerful.

Last but not least, your SkyComputer is also compatible with any hardware you need such as controllers, webcams, USB mics, headphones, speakers, external hard drives and other USB devices. Furthermore, the company is willing to release its own certified game controllers, USB flash drive streaming stick and a streaming-ready set-top box.

Preventing geo blocks and lag

Game streaming services like LiquidSky are readily available anywhere in the world through the cloud, yet the experience may differ from country to country. It’s not quite clear yet how LiquidSky will be different for players in one country compared to the other, but it’s obvious there will be minor differences, as is the case with other streaming services like Netflix. For LiquidSky players, a VPN service will become an even handier way to make sure they enjoy smooth gameplay without any lag. Furthermore, by being able to connect to the service using IP addresses of different countries you will be able to stream games available to those countries only. It remains to be seen how much of a necessity a VPN will be for LiquidSky gamers, though we expect it to play an important role in providing the best possible gaming experience.