Gaikai scores second funding round

A group of venture capitalists have extended their faith in Gaikai, the innovative cloud gaming technology, by pumping over $10 million in the upcoming service.

Gaikai, co-founded by industry veteran David Perry, allows gamers to play a diverse range of videogames through numerous devices and platforms via online streaming.

The service offers online and remote access to games installed on Gaikai’s farms of powerful computers and servers, which are now being set up across the globe.

It means that play is not necessarily dependent on the technical specifications of the device in the user’s hands, as demonstrated recently when Gaikai streamed a game of World of Warcraft through an iPad.

As the service gets set for launch, several companies have taken part in an investment round worth over $10 million.

The likes of Rustic Canyon Partners, Benchmark Capital and Triplepoint Capital have participated in the investment round – now Gaikai’s second phase of private funding. An anonymous investor has also fronted cash.

“Gaikai offers video game publishers and retailers an innovative cloud-computing solution that enables the acquisition of new video game players at a dramatically reduced cost,” says Nate Redmond of Rustic Canyon Partners.

Mitch Lasky at Benchmark Capital added: “Gaikai is poised to take advantage of sweeping changes in how games are bought, sold, and ultimately even played brought about by the industry-wide shift to digital distribution. Benchmark is delighted to join in this round and increase our commitment to Gaikai, David Perry and the team.”