Sony just shook the gaming world with the announcement that they will be acquiring cloud-gaming service Gaikai.  This puts them in the position to better control and dictate how their gaming enterprise will evolve if they played their cards right.  But Gaikai isn’t the only cloud gaming service in town and others aren’t about to let Sony have all the cloud gaming fun.  Others like Ubuntu have been deep in the cloud-gaming sector for some time, and the race is on to revolutionize the gaming industry in the virtual sense, taking advantage of smartTVs, mobile devices and connected game consoles alike.

Big Fish Games

Later this summer Big Fish Games plans to launch their new universal cloud gaming service, allowing users to access 100 of Big Fish’s popular games via the cloud.  Games can now be played on various platforms, such as Macs, PCs, connected TV, and Android tablets and smartphones, without losing progress.

Big Fish’s VP and general manager of cloud gaming, Will O’Brien, stated that the service will initially launch with 100 casual games, including hidden objects, arcade, puzzle and strategy games, but will add more games every week from their 2,500 catalogue.

EA

Just last week Electronic Arts unveiled “a sophisticated multiplayer video game, complete with three-dimensional graphics and rich illustration, written in HTML5 to enable the game-play entirely through a Web browser.

EA showcased the game “Strike Fortress” during Google I/O.  The game won’t be available until after a year and is only compatible with Google Chrome and on tablets running Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

OnLive

OnLive is Gaikai’s top competitor and when Sony was out looking for a cloud gaming dedicated platform, OnLive is said to be one of their choices aside Gaikai.  But now that Sony’s announced their plans to acquire Gaikai, this leaves OnLive available for competitors.

Some of the rumored companies to buy OnLive are Microsoft, HTC, and Samsung.  HTC already invested $40 million in the company last year.  Unfortunately, they’ve failed to fully capitalize on their investment.  Microsoft may put OnLive to good use, incorporating it to their Xbox gaming console or on the Surface to enhance their cloud gaming platform.  But some are betting on Samsung to acquire OnLive since they’re always on the lookout for something to give their products an edge.  Having their own dedicated cloud gaming platform would surely give them the edge, as well as the audience, they need.