Sony has spent $380m in acquiring cloud-based gaming company Gaikai, as the manufacturer makes strides into taking its gaming experience into the cloud.

The partnership raises questions about what Sony's gaming division responsible for the PlayStation has planned for its gaming ecosystem.

By taking its gaming titles into the cloud and enabling gamers to access all their games from an online hub, actual physical discs could become redundant, for example. Could the PlayStation 4 be the first Sony games console to operate without a disc? 

Sony has also recently teamed up with Google for the Sony NS7-GS7 or Google TV and with, Gaikai demoing what is possible on Google TV at this year's Google I/O, Sony could be looking to offer a more gaming-focused Google TV with a cloud gaming service straight to your TV as well. 

Sony is yet to expand on what the future holds following the acquisition of Gaikai, but the pieces are now in place for some big changes. As the manufacturer says: “ SCE will continue to aggressively expand a new world of entertainment through the introduction of innovative technologies and the delivery of amazing experiences” 

That’s code for watch this space.

What do you think Sony Computer Entertainment's acquisition of Gaikai means? Let us know in the comments below.