OnLive headed to the UK through BT partnership
Streaming games on demand spearheader OnLive has announced a partnership with BT, whereby the British communications firm has taken a 2.6 percent share in the company and will have the exclusive rights to bundle OnLive service with its broadband packages in the UK. "We're really excited about OnLive's potential in Europe, and looking forward to kicking it off in the UK through our partnership with BT," OnLive CEO Steve Perlman said in a post on the company's blog.
"Today we are announcing that BT, the largest broadband operator in the UK, has formed a partnership with and has made an investment in OnLive. We'll be working together with BT to bring the OnLive Game Service to the UK, such that it operates reliably and with high quality over the UK's Internet backbone to BT's broadband customers," Perlman wrote. "I know everyone would like the exact details of when OnLive will be available in the UK, but we are not announcing dates just yet. We're completely focused on our US launch this summer. Once we get the US service up and running, we'll be sharing more details, including when we'll be starting a UK public Beta."
Addressing those in the region who already have broadband service, Perlman said that "UK gamers will also be able to order the OnLive Game Service directly from OnLive to run over any UK ISP," adding that, "What's great about Western Europe geographically is that so many countries are within a 1000 mile (1600 km) radius, which is within the latency limit for a single OnLive data center. We've tested OnLive across all of Western Europe spanning from the UK to Italy and from Scandinavia down to Spain."
The OnLive service is slated to launch in the US this June 17 for PC and Mac users, with an initial lineup of titles numbering in the teens. The company's stand-alone "micro-console" hardware has yet to be dated for release here, but will be available at the service's UK launch. We're in touch with OnLive with the hope of bringing you more details regarding this morning's announcement later today.
