PlayStation Now beta invites sent to PS3 owners - report

PlayStation Now, Sony's streaming games service, is reportedly sending invites to a closed beta test.

IGN published a screengrab of a beta invite email, but did not indicate if it had harvested the email itself or received the image from another source.

The beta will include "access to test PlayStation's game streaming service before its full launch and the opportunity to provide your regular feedback to the PlayStation Now team", but makes no mention of what games will be on offer, beyond a description of the service as offering "access to a library of popular PlayStation 3 titles".

Those who accept the invite will apparently receive a beta voucher and further instructions within the next few days, suggesting the beta itself is not far off now. Sign-ups for the beta opened earlier this month.

The email suggests beta participants connect their PlayStation 3 to their local network via ethernet, and recommends having an Internet connection of at least 5 Mbps.

PlayStation Now is expected in North America towards the end of 2014, and is presumably based on Gaikai's technology. It will eventually roll out to PS3, PS3, Vita, Bravia smart TVs, and possibly even dedicated hardware.

A recent report suggests the service will emulate PSOne and PS2 games.