The gaming industry has seen a huge surge over the last 10 years as more and more of us log on to play some of our favourite games. But as technology changes and the industry shifts to mobile and online gaming, could cloud-based gaming services be the future of the gaming industry?
What is Cloud Gaming?
Cloud gaming is a new way to play involving a controller and the internet. This means that there is no need to download the game at all. It’s instead streamed to your device and each can be played instantly. This not only saves storage space but it allows for the game to run much faster as a result. This is great for those with minimal running power on devices as cloud gaming relies solely on the speed of your internet connection. This is a simple yet effective way of making gaming more accessible to so many whilst enabling higher-quality graphics but will it ever overtake traditional gaming on consoles and mobile devices.
The Benefits of Ultra-Fast Cloud Gaming
As mentioned, another major benefit of all this is the speed at which games can be delivered. Gone are the days of sitting and staring at a progress bar as you wait to download your new game or perhaps just an update to your game. Gone are the days of your storage filling up and having to make the decision to delete some of your much-loved content.
Getting a Cloud Gaming Service is the first step though, and these services are based on subscriptions. Every tech giant seems to have or be working on one. Google Stadia, Microsoft xCloud, Xbox xCloud are all built on different data offloading methods, yet they’re united by the same vision. Huge gaming brands are also onboard to bring this type of play to their own customers. For example, High 5 Games company, which is the driving force behind the most popular slot games, such as Golden Goddess on the IGT network, is now powering their game title integration with more and more gaming platforms throughout the world. Like the official website of Roulette77, they’re using cloud based remote game servers too. So, it’s fair to say that cloud based gaming will reach and revolutionise every aspect to playing online.
Minecraft, Red Dead Redemption, Rise of the Tomb Raider are just a few of the biggest titles leading into the cloud based stage of gaming technology. You can play a number of the leading titles from a wide range of consoles all in one place. In addition, the software allows you to connect with your friends in an instant for the most streamlined online multiplayer experience around.
The downside of cloud gaming
With several services from Sony, Nvidia and Google all emerging on the market there are many beginning to see the teething problems. One of the biggest, of course, is the quality of the games. The slower your internet is when using this service, the more likely you are to experience some form of lag. This is an issue for those that use cloud gaming as their primary source of entertainment as there is the potential for slower loading times and lag during gameplay.
Another issue is the exclusivity aspect. Some games are only available on certain platforms, whilst others are only available elsewhere. There’s also the fact that there’s not a huge amount of people using them right now, so the possibility of having your friends on the platform of your choice is small.
Could they ever replace consoles?
Though many people are benefiting from this style of gaming, there are still several hard-core gamers that are sceptical. Though it looks promising, issues with internet speed and the reliability of servers make many sceptical to make the switch from their PC or console to this new form of gaming. However, as technology develops, the market is expected to be worth approximately $450 million by 2023, therefore proving to many that this could be the next big trend in the world of gaming moving forward.
With this in mind, the trend of cloud gaming is set to be revolutionary within the next few years as technology improves, but will it ever be enough to knock consoles and gaming PC’s off of the top spot?