Facebook Inc. today said it has acquired Spanish cloud gaming company PlayGiga for about €70 million ($78 million) as it looks to expand into the gaming market.

Founded in 2013, PlayGiga offers a premium streaming game service that works on both Windows and macOS computers as well as some smart televisions.

Customers sign up for a subscription, which gives them access to more than 300 games licensed from Sega Games Co. Ltd., The Walt Disney Co., Capcom Co. Ltd., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Plug In Digital and others.

Prior to the acquisition, PlayGiga had been offering its cloud gaming services via deals with mobile carriers and other groups in Italy, Argentina, Chile and Spain and had been planning to expand into the Middle East.

Presumably, Facebook will use PlayGiga to enter the burgeoning cloud game streaming market, but other than confirming the acquisition to CNBC, Facebook has not provided further details on its plans.

The game streaming market to date hasn’t found a willing audience, as companies such as OnLive Inc. failed. But now it’s having its Lazarus-rising-from-the-dead moment coming into 2020. Google LLC is leading the pack with Stadia, a cloud service that allows consumers play games on any device. And Microsoft Corp. is developing Project xCloud, a game streaming service that utilizes the company’s existing Xbox library to provide streamed games to mobile devices.

The acquisition of PlayGiga is Facebook’s second in the gaming market recently, having acquired virtual reality studio Beat Games s.r.o for an undisclosed price in November. Beat Games is clearly linked into the Facebook-owned Oculus virtual-reality unit, whereas PlayGiga stands somewhat alone with no natural existing fit.

Prior to acquisition, PlayGiga had raised €5 million ($5.56 million) in venture capital funding. Investors included Adara, Bankinter, Inveready and Caixa Capital Risc.

Image: PlayGiga