Rumor: Will Gaikai Be Providing PS3 Streaming Service For PlayStation 4?

We knew that there was a good reason that Sony would pour $380 million into the acquisition of Gaikai’s cloud gaming services, as they could play a major part in the forthcoming PlayStation 4 system.

Rumors are circulating, via the Wall Street Journal, that the service will primarily be used to allow users to stream PlayStation 3 games on the new console, rather than worrying about backwards compatibility for it using physical discs.

Using the service, users would be able to stream either full games or demos from the PlayStation 3 library instantly without having to load the games onto the hard drive or use a disc.  It sounds tempting, though the report didn’t indicate whether you would have to pay for the games all over again, or if there was a way to unlock those that you already own.  We’re likely to have more answers this Wednesday, when Sony will reportedly be unveiling its next big piece of gaming hardware, the PlayStation 4.

We’ll see how things fare later this week, with a full report to follow.