Sony has announced the acquisition of cloud gaming firm Gaikai.

The deal was concluded on June 30 for $380 million. Sony will now "establish a cloud service and expand its network business by taking full advantage of Gaikai's revolutionary technology and infrastructure including data centers servicing dozens of countries and key partners around the world."

While he didn't give any specifics as to what kind of services the purchase could spark, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Andrew House teased:

"By combining Gaikai’s resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE’s extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences. SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices.”

Gaikai CEO David Perry had denied a recent buyout of his firm, but, with the deal by Sony now finally announced, he said:

"SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide. We’re honored to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide."

Before E3, it was heavily speculated that Sony would confirm their buyout of Gaikai. The online cloud gaming company were rumored to be bringing back backward compatibility for the PlayStation 2 back to the newer (slimline) PlayStation 3 models.

With Microsoft apparently open to an acquisition of Gaikai's direct competitor OnLive for the Xbox 720, it'll be intriguing to see what Sony does in regards to implementing the former into the PlayStation 4. As for the PlayStation 3, expect integration with the PlayStation Network and perhaps even the PlayStation Vita.