Cloud Gaming Industry and Trends for 2024

Cloud gaming and its industry is a relatively new term often unknown to people or simply confusing and difficult to comprehend at times. Today, we will cover this exact topic, while exploring the trends of the said industry at the same time. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

Before we begin, let us quickly explain what Cloud Gaming actually is and how to understand it. With information provided from Kingston:

“Cloud gaming or game streaming is when you play online video games on a remote server in a data center. Cloud gaming is also known as gaming on demand or gaming as a service, and it is based on the idea of being able to play the newest games available from a range of devices: as long as you have a good internet connection and a subscription with a Cloud gaming provider.”. ^[1]

In the simplest of terms, Cloud Gaming providers will more often than not provide an app or a web-based platform that you can use to play/access the game in question. The only requirement? A good and stable internet connection.

Cloud Gaming History

Contrary to popular belief, the concept of Cloud Gaming has been around for quite some time now, dating as early as the year 2000 when it was first tried. While it can be argued that its success so far has been mediocre, the Cloud Gaming industry has reached a crucial transition period. Especially considering the growth of both the video game industry and the eSports industry. We covered both topics in our previous articles, you can read them here.

Coming back to the topic of Cloud Gaming, the industry thus far has been more often than not unable to compete with PC or console gaming. In recent years however, with increasing internet speeds and technological breakthroughs, the Cloud Gaming industry has been revived and is catching up with the rest.

Some of the most popular providers of the said services include Sony, Xbox, Nvidia and Stadia to name a few.

Pros and Cons of Cloud Gaming

Like with any new technology and platform for gaming, there are certain pros and cons to Cloud Gaming. Here we will cover both starting off with the pros.

The major factor contributing to the popularity of Cloud Gaming is the fact that there really are no high or low specifications required to run this type of gaming. Long-time gamers will know just how demanding new games can be for PCs and consoles alike making this one of the major investments in any household. With Cloud Gaming, this problem is mostly resolved as players can enjoy gaming without this particular burden. On the downside, players will require excellent internet connection in order to enjoy these services. Otherwise, it is money wasted.

Most of the aforementioned services are subscription-based, meaning that once players subscribe, they have a variety of games to choose from, which really is what all of us want. The only downside to this could be the subscription price as this is one of the major factors to consider before deciding between Cloud Gaming and conventional gaming.

As the last point, it is worth mentioning the so-called “video compression” factor. This, as well as the aforementioned factors, is one of the main reasons players opt for a conventional approach to gaming rather than embracing Cloud Gaming. What this means is that just like any other streaming service, the video is compressed to take up less bandwidth. In the simplest of terms, this means that the gameplay will not be as high resolution compared to conventional gaming.

Final Thoughts

As a final note on the topic of Cloud Gaming, we have to once again mention that the Cloud Gaming industry is currently in a transitional period. This means that at this point in time, it is do or die for this branch of the video game industry as its future mostly depends on the provider’s willingness and ability to provide a good service at reasonable prices.

Furthermore, even though the Cloud Gaming industry has not yet surpassed the traditional gaming approach, it would be wrong to disregard it entirely, as new technological developments and breakthroughs are reached every day. While the limitations to Cloud Gaming may seem overwhelming at this point, we can in no way underestimate the potential this type of gaming has.

The scale can tip either way, but we are confident that the devs will do their absolute best to provide a service that is able to compete with traditional gaming.

^[1] “What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Gaming?” Kingston Technology Company, Kingston, May 2022, www.kingston.com/en/blog/gaming/cloud-gaming-advantages-disadvantages.