Liquidsky Software, Inc. (acquired By Walmart)

What Liquidsky Software, Inc. (acquired By Walmart) does

LiquidSky Software, Inc. was a GPU cloud computing company founded in 2015 and acquired by Walmart in 2018. The company's core product was the LiquidSky GPU Cloud—a multi-tenant GPU virtualization platform that provided users with a full Windows PC in the cloud, enabling installation and execution of any program or game remotely. Its underlying technology stack included V-GPU, MX-GPU, and GPU container services, with multi-tenant architecture distinguished from bare-metal-only competitors and limited-catalog game streaming services such as Netflix-style cloud gaming.

The company's revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed; pricing was not published and no revenue figures were reported. Its customer base combined millions of consumer gamers and power users (the primary segment) with named enterprise customers including Verizon, Samsung, and Walmart itself. The go-to-market was horizontal across consumer and enterprise, but the founders ultimately concluded the company could not fund server growth against free GPU cloud services offered by Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and NVIDIA, leading to the 2018 sale.

The acquisition was reportedly contested, with Samsung, Apple, Amazon, and Walmart all engaging in acquisition discussions. Post-acquisition, the proprietary hardware model was effectively retired as Walmart partnered with Microsoft Azure to compete with Amazon. The original LiquidSky.com domain is now operated independently by fans, and ex-team members launched Stim.io in 2025 as a cloud-provider-based successor platform. LiquidSky's V-GPU and MX-GPU technologies propagated into mainstream platforms including Xcloud, Geforce Now, and PlayStation Plus.

Name

Liquidsky Software, Inc. (acquired By Walmart)

Legal name

LiquidSky Software, Inc.

Website

https://liquidsky.tv

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Acquired

Short description

LiquidSky Software operated a GPU cloud platform from 2015 to 2018, offering multi-tenant virtualization that delivered full Windows PCs in the cloud to gamers, power users, and enterprise customers including Verizon, Samsung, and Walmart before its acquisition by Walmart.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud GPU Computing / Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Compute Cloud & GPU-as-a-Service (HDAAAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

AI Compute Virtualization & Scheduling (GPU virtualization, cluster schedulers) (HDAAAAAG), Cloud Gaming Infrastructure & GPU Cloud Providers (IaaS/PaaS for gaming) (MPAFAHAC)

Keywords

• Cloud GPU computing
• Multi-tenant virtualization
• Cloud gaming infrastructure
• Virtual GPU services
• Cloud PC platform

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel

Core offering

LiquidSky operated a GPU cloud platform that used proprietary multi-tenant virtualization to stream full Windows-based "Cloud PCs" to end users, enabling remote installation and execution of any program or game from low-end client devices. The platform also served enterprise adopters that needed scalable GPU compute for graphics-intensive workloads, distinguishing itself from bare-metal-only competitors and from streaming game-catalog services offered later by Microsoft, Google, NVIDIA, and Sony.

Product overview

Liquidsky Software operated as a GPU cloud platform with a single core product: the LiquidSky GPU Cloud service. This platform provided multi-tenant GPU virtualization, giving users access to a full Windows PC environment in the cloud—distinct from game streaming services as it supported installing and running any program or game. Following the 2018 Walmart acquisition, the technology has since propagated to cloud gaming platforms (Xcloud, Geforce Now, PlayStation Plus). Former team members launched Stim.io as the successor platform, which differs by being software-defined on top of AWS/Azure rather than hardware-dependent, addressing the scaling limitations that led to the original company's sale.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LiquidSky GPU Cloud A GPU cloud platform that delivered full Windows-based virtual PCs (Cloud PCs) to end users and enterprise customers via proprietary multi-tenant virtualization. Unlike cloud gaming catalog services, users could install and run any Windows program or game remotely from low-spec client devices.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• AmazonminorOthersAmazon was in competing discussions to acquire LiquidSky alongside Samsung, Apple, and Walmart. Amazon was also identified as a competitor offering 'free' GPU cloud services that created market pressure on LiquidSky.
• AppleminorOthersApple engaged in competing acquisition discussions for LiquidSky alongside Samsung, Amazon, and Walmart before Walmart completed the acquisition.
• Microsoft AzurecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfter Walmart acquired LiquidSky, Walmart partnered with Microsoft Azure on all fronts to compete with Amazon. This represents a significant strategic shift post-acquisition where Walmart moved away from LiquidSky's proprietary hardware approach to leveraging Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• NVIDIA GeForce Now: NVIDIA's consumer cloud-gaming service that streams GPU-rendered games to user devices. Directly comparable to LiquidSky's consumer-facing GPU cloud use case, though it offers a curated catalog rather than a full Windows Cloud PC.
• CoreWeave: GPU cloud provider initially focused on rendering/VFX workloads that scaled into a major AI-compute cloud. Comparable GPU-as-a-service offering with similar multi-tenant GPU infrastructure roots.
• Shadow (Blade): Consumer 'Cloud PC' service providing a full Windows desktop in the cloud for gaming and productivity—the most direct functional competitor to LiquidSky's full-Windows-in-the-cloud model.
• Lambda Labs: GPU cloud and workstation provider offering on-demand NVIDIA GPU compute for AI/ML and graphics workloads. Comparable GPU virtualization and rental model targeting developers and enterprises.
• Microsoft Xbox Cloud Gaming: Microsoft's cloud-gaming platform (Project xCloud) built on Azure, mentioned in the source as having incorporated V-GPU/MX-GPU concepts pioneered by LiquidSky. Closest large-scale cloud-gaming peer in scope and target user.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon AWS EC2 GPU Instances: Hyperscaler GPU compute offering (P/G instances) cited in the source as one of the 'free' GPU cloud services that pressured LiquidSky. Operates broadly rather than specializing in gaming/cloud PC.
• PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming: Sony's cloud-gaming tier of PlayStation Plus, mentioned in the source as having incorporated V-GPU/MX-GPU concepts originating with LiquidSky. Comparable consumer cloud-gaming delivery model.
• Google Cloud GPU (A2 instances) / Stadia (historical): Google's GPU cloud offering; Google also operated Stadia, a consumer cloud-gaming service that competed with LiquidSky before being shut down. Cited in source as a deep-pocketed competitor offering free GPU cloud.
• Microsoft Azure (GPU VMs / ND-series): Hyperscaler GPU compute offering that became Walmart's chosen post-acquisition cloud partner. Provides the underlying GPU cloud infrastructure that competes directly with LiquidSky's proprietary stack.

Emerging players

• Paperspace (DigitalOcean): GPU cloud and virtual desktop platform (now part of DigitalOcean) offering cloud workstations and GPU instances—comparable use case (remote GPU-accelerated Windows/Linux desktops) at smaller scale than the hyperscalers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Liquidsky Software, Inc. (acquired By Walmart)