I would like to begin this post by discussing the current state of the gaming industry. With the rising popularity of esports, mobile gaming, and gaming becoming a mainstream form of entertainment, this industry is experiencing rapid growth and has never been better. In fact, it is projected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 10% between 2023 and 2028.
There are two primary ways to access the most amazing games on the planet, and everyone should know what two devices I’m talking about. The PCs and Consoles have been for many years the kings in our homes, and throughout the years they have become better and most importantly bigger…yes, bigger, although the technology we have in our homes is improving and becoming more efficient, the hardware is only getting bigger, and not for the right reasons, in fact, the biggest part of a graphics card or a console is the refrigeration system, something that appears to be rational because more processing power requires more refrigeration power, but isn’t it quiet annoying?
Let’s be honest, if you are really into games, you’d love to buy the greatest console or the greatest gaming PC, so you can have the most amazing gaming experience it is available, but this «greatest» device is only bigger and noisier. However, when it’s time to pay the electricity bill, none of that really matters, does it? So, what are the tech companies really talking about when they say that their devices are getting more power-efficient? But, we aren’t here today to criticize tech companies or the electricity costs, because the word «power-efficient» and the technology there is behind computers are more complex than they appear to be and I’m almost sure that tech companies are doing their best, today I want to talk about gaming.
Returning to our main question, Do you really need a powerful device for gaming? Right now in nearly every situation, the answer is yes, a large and powerful gaming device is required to experience the most optimal gameplay. However, what happens in situations where the answer is no? Or, what will happen in the future?
In brief words, the answer to this question is «cloud gaming». If you’re not familiar with the term, cloud gaming allows you to play any game you want on any device nearby by subscribing to a cloud gaming service, just like you would with streaming services like Netflix. This is a great alternative to having a heavy and inconvenient gaming device in your home. You might be worried about the need for a fast and expensive internet connection, but let’s discuss that later. There are several major companies currently working on this technology, such as Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft.
On one hand, Nvidia offers Geforce Now, a platform to play more than 1500 games, lots of which are from stores like Steam or Epic Games, and at the moment Geforce Now is supported in approximately 100 countries with the help of their alliance partners. Amazon offers Amazon Luna with a great variety of games directly stored on their servers, some of these games are included with Amazon Prime, while others require a monthly or annual subscription fee. However, it is worth noting that Amazon Luna is not yet available in many countries, unlike Geforce Now. Additionally, Microsoft is doing its job offering Xbox Cloud Gaming, a provisional name for its beta cloud service that is inside of its Game Pass Ultimate subscription, This service has more experience and better references but is limited in availability as well as Amazon Luna.
Many companies have abandoned their cloud gaming projects due to various challenges. For instance, Google faced issues such as high maintenance costs, unstable technology, and development barriers that need to be overcome. Similarly, companies like Playstation have slowed down their development due to a common obstacle, connectivity. The current internet technologies and protocols are not equipped to handle cloud gaming properly, which is the major barrier preventing the gaming industry from achieving the next level of gaming experience.
In the event that cloud gaming becomes the dominant player in the gaming industry, it will greatly impact the software and hardware market. Companies will shift a large portion of their stock and services to cloud gaming providers rather than gamers. Additionally, internet providers will adapt to these changes and pricing is unlikely to be affected, as newer and more advanced internet technologies will eventually emerge and become standardized.
In conclusion, it is evident that the gaming industry is facing a significant challenge, but it will likely be solved sooner than anticipated. However, this does not necessarily imply that custom PC gaming will become obsolete, not at all, in fact, I think that custom PCs will evolve and become better with newer technologies as the ones mentioned in the last post. Nevertheless, we can’t deny that cloud gaming is the future of this industry.
