Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent is reportedly opening up a brand new cloud streaming service called Start for beta testing in the region.

That's according Tech Web - as spotted and translated by KrAsia - which reports that a new website is live to register to be a tester for Start, with tests to start in the near future in Shanghai and Guangdong.

The site also notes that Tencent is hiring for a number of cloud-related games jobs, including engineers for Mac and iOS, Windows and Android.

This service appears to be separate to the Tencent Instant Play scheme it has teamed up with Intel for.

Start follows in the footsteps of Google Stadia, which was announced last week at GDC. While there is increased investment in the streaming and cloud games space, it remains to be seen how realistic this tech is - it's very flashy and impressive, but it could also die on its arse in real-world conditions.