The diverse selection spans the last generation of games, catering to a wide range of tastes. Burn a quick 20 minutes with the punishing, roguelike platformer Spelunky, or settle in for a long and emotionally involved weekend with the cinematic The Last of Us. Action, strategy, puzzle, indie, AAA–almost any category you can think of is represented in the library, which will grow over time. Sony has hinted PS1 and PS2 games might eventually join the catalog as well, but there have been no official announcement yet.
At launch, PlayStation Now will only be available on PS4, but more platforms are promised for the future. The service is already in open beta on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV, and select Sony 4K TVs. Samsung Smart TVs will gain access to the service in the first half of 2015, requiring only a DualShock 4 controller.
PlayStation Now was revealed at CES 2014, confirming speculation that followed Sony’s purchase of the game streaming company Gaikai. It joins the recently announced PlayStation Vue TV service, also set to arrive in early 2015, as part of Sony’s serious bid to consolidate living room entertainment into cloud-based systems that can be accessed from multiple platforms.
