BT has entered into a commercial partnership with OnLive Inc. which gives BT exclusive rights to bundle the OnLive Game Service with broadband in the UK. In conjunction with the commercial partnership, BT has taken a 2.6 per cent shareholding in OnLive Inc.

The revolutionary OnLive Game Service is a new way to purchase and play video games, which are streamed over the internet, using video compression technology, so the customer can just connect and play. There is no need to wait for games to be downloaded, they run instantly.

It delivers the latest games from many of the world’s leading publishers direct to a customer’s TV, PC or Mac. OnLive works over a wired broadband connection and customers do not need high specification computers to use the service as the complex processing work is done at remote data centres.

OnLive unveiled their service in March 2009 after seven years in development and it officially launches in the US this summer following a successful beta trial. BT will announce further details about its launch plans later this year.

The move by BT into cloud gaming enhances what the company already offers in the entertainment area with BT Vision its on-demand digital TV service.