The PS4's Gaikai streaming service will launch throughout North America in 2014, ahead of its European debut in 2015, new reports have suggested.

Inside sources (via Eurogamer) have suggested that the cloud technology will enter beta testing early next year, before rolling out to North American customers in the third quarter.

Sony

The PS4 does not include backwards compatibility at launch, but Gaikai will provide a workaround solution by allowing users to stream older games on the system.

Gaikai's catalogue will be limited to a selection of PS3 games upon release, and the service will eventually add streaming support for the Vita and the PS3.

"Our goal is to be able to have a new form of game distribution streamed from the server side, initially to PS4 consoles then gradually moving that out to Vita," said Sony president Andrew House.

GAME

"But eventually, the endgame is to have this available on a multitude of network-connected devices, essentially delivering a console-quality gaming experience on devices which are not innately capable of doing that."

The official European PS4 launch event took place on November 28 in London's Covent Garden, where attendees were able to purchase the console without having pre-ordered and take in a performance by Tinie Tempah.

GAME opened roughly 300 stores at midnight, including its pop-up store at the PlayStation Lounge in London.

> PS4 out now: Reviews of hardware, games as new system releases

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