Orange is dipping a toe in the waters of cloud gaming by acquiring a minority stake in specialist Japanese firm G-cluster Global Corporation.
G-cluster’s expertise lies in aggregating and streaming cloud based games, and the firm already supplies the software for an existing service offered by Orange in France. The operator believes cloud gaming offers strong opportunities to supply games on smartphones, tablets, PCs, and TVs, via high-speed fixed and mobile broadband networks.
Orange acquired the stake via a capital increase program by G-cluster, and now plans to back the Japanese firm’s bid to expand internationally.
"Cloud-gaming is strategic for Orange, as it is a fast-growing activity for which access to very high-speed broadband networks has become essential,” explains Élie Girard, executive vice president of Group Strategy and Development at Orange.
Girard says the telco will look to extend its current cloud gaming service to other markets.