The gaming industry is still enjoying an unimaginable boom due to the pandemic. According to the NPD Group, a market research company, in the US alone sales increased by 30% in comparison to the previous year, surpassing 11.6 billion dollars in 2020 Q3.
In this context, a number of various competing solutions have been developed to attract gamers at large, and one of the most innovative proposals on the market is cloud gaming, i.e., video games in the cloud. Even though this type of service without consoles is not new (in 2017, a platform called Gloud, from Turner, was trialed with limited success, and therefore halted), nowadays the available options are broad and competitive.
There are several platforms on the market, such as:
- Stadia by Google
- XCloud by Microsoft
- Steam Cloud Play by Valve
- PlayStation Now by SONY
- GeForce Now by NVIDIA
They all promise gameplay with the highest possible definition, no latency, and you don’t need to invest in top-range consoles.
How Do Cloud Platforms Work?
One of their main characteristics is that in order to play, you only need to be connected to the Internet. All the game data (including every match) is stored in the cloud, so it isn’t necessary to have a high-performance computer that has to meet specific requirements.
Cloud gaming needs just 3 components:
- The terminal, which sends player actions to the server and also broadcasts image and sound.
- The server, which executes the game.
- The network, which serves as a link between the two previously mentioned elements.
The whole design relies heavily on strong bandwidth communication. It is there that 5G technology will be key to getting the best performance possible when executing the games.
Even though each service has its own special features, let’s see what the general characteristics of this new gaming modality are.
Advantages of Cloud Gaming
1. Low-Cost Experience
Even though cloud platforms require a monthly subscription and access to every game is generally paid for individually, the cost of a state-of-the-art console or a high-performance computer is also high. With these services, hardware requirements to run the games are more affordable; additionally, games can even be accessed from a mobile phone, which makes them more universal and thus available to a new audience that previously couldn’t access certain games.
2. Cross-platform
One of the greatest advantages of these services is that games aren’t limited to one console or PC. Cloud gaming offers us the opportunity to explore games from Playstation 5, XBox One, Nintendo, Switch, or former consoles or titles with demanding requirements (such as Cyberpunk, the last CD Project launch). You can access these games from any PC or smartphone as long as you have (great) Internet connection.
3. Performance
If you are worried that in order to run any of these games you need a solid Internet connection (which could be a disadvantage, especially in Latin America), you don’t need to be; the Cloud experience allows you to play games without tedious downloads or constant updates, while avoiding processing and using resources available in your local environment; at the same time, it ensures graphic quality which is otherwise hard to obtain if you don’t have the necessary hardware.
The Future: Cloud Gaming Just Around the Corner
The gaming industry has definitely been thriving exponentially, and this trend will continue for who knows how long, considering the boom of Twitch broadcasting during lockdown and the fact that “the Cloud”, as a concept, has been up and running for years. This leads us to think that the possibilities are endless, and the future of cloud gaming is not a game, but a reality.
Click and find out more about cloud computing services.
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