Major US cable providers are turning their attention to gaming. Several media sources reported that Verizon, AT&T, and Time Warner are investigating ways to deliver cloud-based games to their cable TV subscribers by 2013.
While the major game consoles are repositioning themselves as content providers (movies, TV shows, music), cable companies are counterattacking. Building on the success of the video-on-demand, TV service providers want to extend their portfolio to gaming, leveraging their high penetration rate and the existing infrastructure.The success of Facebook & mobile games played a central role in this strategic move. The early offerings will be more of the social/casual variety, such as Angry Birds, Tetris, Solitaire, and such. There are also preliminary negotiations with game publishers to extend the portfolio to more advanced games by 2014.
