Soon Comcast customers may be able to play their favorite games, such as Madden NFL or Battlefield over their cable box. Although, the streaming service is rumored to be exclusive for the X1 cable box interface which already offers TV shows and movies to be viewed on-demand. After Comcast had recently acquired a partnership with Netflix for faster streaming over their network, Reuters has reported that Comcast and Electronic Arts are nearing a deal to bring on-demand gaming to the living room without the need for an Xbox One or a PlayStation 4.
Upon closing the deal, it is reported that Comcast would start offering family-friendly games like Plants vs. Zombies, and may add first person shooters like Battlefield or TitanFall. The service would directly compete with the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4 with PlayStation Now, and Amazon with the recently released FireTV.
Allegedly the service has been in testing over the past two years. Although there are many concerns over the service that Comcast and EA may offer in the future, many of which are to do with the infrastructure. Many consumer-level internet service offerings aren't up to speed for the growing demand of cloud-computing. There have been services in the past which haven't quite taken off like OnLive, and have even caused public outrage, like the Xbox One's always-online policy before Microsoft reversed their decision. It will be interesting to see in the coming years if the on-demand gaming industry will actually take off.
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