OnLive Cloud Gaming Shuts Down Abruptly: Users Lose Entire Game Libraries Overnight
What happened
OnLive, a pioneering cloud gaming service, shut down its consumer gaming service in 2015 (having previously undergone a restructuring in 2012). Users who had purchased games through the service lost access to their libraries without compensation. The closure highlighted the fundamental risk of digital game ownership tied to a single commercial platform.[1]
What went wrong
OnLive's business model required enormous infrastructure to deliver low-latency game streaming at a subscription price that could not sustain the operational costs. When the service shut down, users had no way to retain games they had purchased because the digital rights existed only within OnLive's closed ecosystem.[1]
Lesson learned
Digital goods with DRM tied to a commercial platform are licenses, not purchases — they expire when the platform expires. Cloud gaming businesses face an unusual fixed-cost structure (server infrastructure per concurrent user) that makes profitability difficult at consumer price points.
Sources
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