OnLive is, once again, tapping cloud gaming tech for business use

On Thursday, OnLive launched CloudLift Enterprise, the company’s second attempt to adapt its cloud gaming services to the business space. Until now, OnLive has been the flag-bearer for cloud gaming, which uses low-latency connections between a thin client app on a PC or mobile device and a back-end server. Its CloudLift technology takes games that users have bought on Valve Software’s Steam service, or via OnLive, and accelerates them using its own high-end gaming machines. Now, the company has adapted that technology for business use. Working from the argument that PC games are about the most graphics-intensive application a user can buy, OnLive’s CloudLift Enterprise service takes the same approach to “graphics-intensive applications” like CAD programs, medical imaging software, and more. “Enterprises have told us that it is frustrating to build and deliver high-end applications for thin clients and remote devices given their hardware constraints,” Mark Jung, executive chairman of OnLive, in a statement. “They want to provide spectacular real-time graphics, and responsive, fluid experiences regardless of the devices their audience chooses to use.”