Sources inform ''Globes'' that cloud gaming developer Playcast Media Systems Ltd. is raising $20 million in a new financing round. The company's technology enables cable and satellite television companies to offer games without the need of consoles. The games equal the quality of the Sony Playstation 3 or Microsoft Xbox 360, but only require registering for the service and a remote.
Playcast has raised $12.7 million since it was founded in 2007. Investors include Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and Xenia Venture Capital Ltd. (TASE:XENA). The company's business model is based on renting games for a limited period or renting a category of games in the same way that customers rent movies of Video-on-Demand content for viewing on their TVs.
Playcast Media CEO Guy de Beer said, "We now offer the games most desired by the broadest audience. In addition to gamers, we also target games users on Facebook who do not want to buy a console and games, mainly because they quickly become obsolete."
Earlier this week, Playcast Media signed an agreement with French carrier Bouygues Telecom SA for its Bbox IPTV subscribers, who will pay monthly subscription fees. Playcast has similar agreements with Portugal Telecom SA (NYSE: PT; Euronext: PTC) and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SGX: T48, ASX: SGT) (Singtel). It is in talks on agreements with companies in Israel, Europe, the Far East, and the US. The company estimates that its service will be available for ten million homes by the end of this year.
"Cloud-based games are going to change how state-of-the-art content is used, by making the best games accessible to everyone," says JVP partner Gadi Tirosh, a director at Playcast.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 26, 2012
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