Big names invest in OnLive

Pioneering streaming games service OnLive has won the affections of a number of high-profile backers as the service gears up for what it is now calling a ‘winter’ launch.

Amongst the names pumping cash into the fledgling service are the likes of North American telecoms provider AT&T and multimedia giant Warner Bros.

[The latest round of investment] was a very big up round in terms of valuation of the company and this was the biggest round we’ve had to date,” OnLive boss Steve Perlman told Venturebeat.

But we’re limited on what we can disclose. The valuation was quite high for a pre-revenue company. It is probably among the highest for a pre-revenue company getting funding this year. But the scope of the opportunity is high.

Over the last decade, we’ve seen an enormous upheaval in the media business as the written word, photos, music, and video have been steadily moving away from physical media to online delivery.

One major category that still remains largely based on physical discs is fast-response interactive media — in particular, video games. And, of course, OnLive’s goal is to enable that last remaining transition.”

Perlman added that the eventual launch date will depend on how the ongoing tests pan out, but he stood by the assertion that the service will go live ‘this winter’ – which could in theory mean any time up to March 2010.