Gaikai raises $30m for cloud-based gaming

secured $30 million in a Series C round of funding led by NEA, with help from Qualcomm, Benchmark Capital, Rustic Canyon, and Intel Capital, reports Vator News.

This round brings the company's total raised to more than $50 million since it was founded in late 2008. The platform allows users to instantly stream the latest video games to any browser, running on any operating system, thereby cutting out the hassle of downloads and installers to make gaming as easy as click and play.

According to Portfolio.com, the company combines cloud computing, mobile and online gaming - allowing users to just click and play online games without downloading any software. They just stream the games from the Internet onto their devices. Among the games Gaikai enables users to play are Mass Effect 2 and Sims 3.

The CEO of Gaikai, David Perry, says the Gaikai Global Interactive Network will eliminate existing problems caused by incompatible devices and geographic and territorial boundaries, writes Digital Media Wire.

Additionally, users will be able to play console games on any device and from anyplace they happen to be, even inside platforms like Facebook. Electronic Arts and Walmart are already confirmed partners in the venture.

“We have all become used to accessing every song ever made, every book ever written, every movie in every genre through cloud-based services,” Perry says. “Gaikai is bringing this same functionality to video games and other interactive software.”