Cloud gaming company OnLive will shut down later this month.

The service will go dark on April 30, but until then it will be free for anyone to play, no subscription needed.

Those whose subscriptions renewed on or after March 20 will be refunded for that month.

Sony has acquired about 140 of OnLive’s patents, but details of the purchase have not been disclosed.

"These strategic purchases open up great opportunities for our gamers, and gives Sony a formidable patent portfolio in cloud gaming," said SCE’s Philip Rosenberg.

"It is yet another proof point that demonstrates our commitment to changing the way gamers experience the world of PlayStation."

OnLive was unveiled at GDC in 2009, and launched a set-top game streaming system in the US in late 2010 and the UK in 2011.

It underperformed, and almost all the company’s employees lost their jobs when OnLive was sold to Lauder Partners in 2012.

Soon after, OnLive CEO Steve Perlman left the company.

Last year, OnLive launched a new business model that let customers play more than 300 PC Steam games on any compatible device, but that system also failed to garner much interest.

In 2012 Sony bought OnLive rival Gaikai for US$380m. It uses the technology to power PlayStation Now and Remote Play.