What is "gaikai"

is a company which provides technology for the streaming of high-end video games. Founded in 2008, it was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2012. Its technology has multiple applications, including in-home streaming over a local wired or wireless network (as in Remote Play between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita), as well as cloud-based gaming where video games are rendered on remote servers and delivered to end users via internet streaming (such as the PlayStation Now game streaming service.) As a startup, before its acquisition by Sony, the company announced many partners using the technology from 2010 through 2012 including game publishers, web portals, retailers and consumer electronics manufacturers. On July 2, 2012, Sony announced that a formal agreement had been reached to acquire the company for $380 million USD with plans of establishing their own new cloud-based gaming service, as well as integrating streaming technology built by Gaikai into PlayStation products, resulting in PlayStation Now and Remote Play.