The Future of Cloud Gaming
Cloud gaming is an emerging technology that promises to revolutionize the gaming industry. This new technology enables users to stream high-end games on portable handheld devices like laptops, tablets, and phones, with fast network connections. It eliminates the need to upgrade hardware frequently, thus removing existing cost and platform barriers.
Cloud gaming offers several benefits for gamers, such as accessing a wide array of high-quality games without expensive hardware. It also yields several benefits for developers, publishers, and platforms, as they can potentially generate more revenue. The primary opportunity lies in reaching out to smartphone gamers, who make up a significant portion of the gaming audience and prefer the convenience of playing PC and console games on their mobile devices.
According to a recent study published by Fortune Business Insights, the global cloud gaming market size was $1.72 billion in 2021. The market is expected to grow significantly, projected to reach $40.81 Billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 43.6% during the forecast period.
Leading tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Sony, Facebook, and Google are all investing in cloud gaming, as they see it as a viable solution to the supply chain challenges facing the gaming industry. These companies believe that cloud gaming is the future and have committed significant resources to its development.
Microsoft reported in April that more than 10 million people were playing cloud games through Xbox Cloud Gaming, with a staggering 1,800% increase in gameplay time over the past 12 months. This is a testament to cloud gaming's growing popularity.
Amazon has announced an attractive discount of 43% on gamepads for its streaming gaming service, hoping to encourage more users to sign up. Gamers can now buy the gamepad for $39.99, 43% off the regular price of $70. NVIDIA's GeForce Now game streaming service has also seen a significant increase in user registrations, reaching over 20 million users from around one million two years ago.
Despite the growth experienced by the cloud gaming market, not all platforms are performing well.
In 2010, OnLive, a cloud-gaming service, sought to get ahead of the curve on this emerging technology, but it ultimately failed and eventually shut down in 2015 after being acquired by Sony. Meanwhile, Stadia, launched with cutting-edge engineering technology by Google, was announced to cease operation. The cloud gaming service will remain operating for the next few months only, with a deadline of January 18, 2023. Google's cloud gaming service had been underperforming for a while and was ultimately abandoned by the tech giant.
While facing challenges like logistics, marketing, public perception, and technological barriers, cloud gaming indeed has tremendous potential benefits, such as accessibility and ease of use. The truth is that the failure of Stadia was not only due to the limitations of cloud gaming services but may also have to do with its business strategies. Nevertheless, cloud gaming services are expected to grow in the gaming industry as technology continues to advance.
