CKH Innovations Opportunities Development partners with Blacknut to provide cloud gaming services; Drei Austria the first to launch with ‘Drei HomePlay’

Cloud-gaming specialist Blacknut and CKH Innovations Opportunities Development (CKH IOD), a telecom unit of CK Hutchison Holdings, have partnered to bring cloud gaming to their customers across Europe and beyond. Drei Austria is the first 3 Group mobile operator to invest in this new innovative content. Drei Austria will offer a whole new experience of entertainment through a new service called Drei HomePlay.

Drei HomePlay’s subscription will bring unlimited access to a catalogue of family-friendly premium games. Customers that subscribe to the service for a monthly fee of 9.99€ will have access to a dedicated application with a catalogue of over 500 family-friendly games. The catalogue includes games from all genres, including racing simulation, adventure, strategy, role-playing games and more.

Drei Homeplay will allow each subscriber to create up to 5 player profiles per account and works across desktop, mobile and selected SmartTVs. Blacknut’s platform also allows players to have a full crossplay experience, meaning they can switch between devices without losing their game saves or progress.

CKH Innovations Opportunities Development (CKH IOD) is the international development hub of CK Hutchison, which creates innovative technologies and services built on CK Hutchison’s mobile networks.
According to market analyst Omdia, cloud gaming is expected to grow into a $4 billion market this year, up 188% compared to 2020, and is expected to more than triple by 2025.
Blacknut’s cloud gaming business solution enables ISPs, device manufacturers, OTT services and media companies to quickly launch their own streaming games services. Blacknut is already providing cloud gaming services for several telecom operators and is available to consumers in 40 countries.

“We’ve been working with CKH IOD for some time to develop an ambitious strategy to bring Innovation and Gaming to all their customers”, said Olivier Avaro, CEO of Blacknut, “The forthcoming launch with Drei in Austria is the first step towards bringing the fun and convenience of cloud gaming to millions of subscribers.”

“We selected Blacknut not only for its extensive expertise in cloud gaming but also because of their great scalable streaming technology ideally designed for carriers and their ability to deploy it to reach even more users and gamers,” said Guenter Lischka, Division Manager Consumer of Drei. “We are proud to be the pilot country within the 3 Group to bring cloud gaming to our subscribers in Austria, and look forward to growing our partnership with Blacknut.”

Francesco Zampini, Director of Devices, Products and Services at CKH IOD, stated, “We are very glad to start this global collaboration with an innovative company like Blacknut. Their cloud gaming platform will be a core element of our Group gaming strategy, enabling seamless multi-screen access and immersive experiences across a rich and dynamic portfolio of games unlocking the power of our 5G Networks for our Customers.”

New and existing Drei customers can subscribe to Drei HomePlay for €9.99 from the 6th of May. Drei HomePlay will give access to over 500 games on Windows, Mac OS, Android Mobile, Tablets, Android SmartTVs and Amazon Fire TV.