One of the biggest trends in gaming of recent years is without a doubt cloud gaming. The new technology allows gamers to access games and stream them from the cloud online, rather than having to insert a CD or wait for a download. In a time when players seek flexibility and convenience and cross-platform playing is gaining traction, cloud gaming fills a need in today’s gaming world. Playing your favorite console game on the go is suddenly no longer just a dream. And jumping headfirst into the action of the newest AAA title is now possible without the need for high-tech gaming hardware. With the streaming and cloud gaming market expanding at a quick pace, this new type of accessing and playing games seems set to change the gaming world for good.
Streaming technology is taking over
While cloud gaming is a relatively new phenomenon in the gaming world, accessing different types of content through streaming is already widely popular in many areas of the entertainment sector. Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and also Spotify clearly show this, as the world is already used to streaming movies, shows, and music online. But streaming has also filtered through to the gaming world, with live streams of lets plays and gaming tournaments gaining huge popularity in recent years. The increased importance of live streams can even be seen in the iGaming sector. Gambling sites from across the world offer a variety of games on the web and make use of innovative technologies to create immersive gambling experiences which are regularly tested and reviewed by online gambling experts. Among the offers, players can find live casino games such as roulette, blackjack, and more, which can be played with a real live dealer via a Livestream. With those developments, it becomes clear how streaming technology is already taking over the entertainment sector – and with cloud gaming, it’s now set to transform the way we play video games.
Eliminating the need for high-tech hardware
Cloud gaming platforms allow users to access video games that are stored on the cloud, namely a remote data center and stream the images onto their screens through the internet. Those data centers are equipped with powerful gaming hardware that can process even the most demanding video games. This in turn means users don’t need to provide the processing power themselves by purchasing the newest gaming PC, console, or smartphone – because the server is in charge of running the game rather than the local equipment. Do you want to play the newly released AAA video game, but your computer is not up to the task, or you don’t have the newest console? If it’s available on a cloud gaming platform, you can just start playing on (almost) any device you already have at home.
The implications of this are huge, as buying state-of-the-art gaming equipment regularly to stay up to date with the newest requirements is not in everyone’s budget and stops many people from getting into gaming altogether. Most cloud gaming services available today, such as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Google Stadia, however, allow you to play on a variety of devices, such as your laptop, your smartphone, or even your smart TV. Now, you don’t even need to own a console to play console games. This doesn’t just make gaming more easily accessible, it also adds a lot more flexibility to your gaming day-to-day, as you can take your gaming session wherever you go. You could, for instance, start your gaming session at home on your laptop and continue playing on your mobile device when you leave the house. Nowadays, cross-platform play is becoming a huge thing, letting players on different devices play multiplayer titles together for the first time. Cloud gaming could take this to the next level and make it even easier for players on all sorts of devices to come together on one battlefield online through the cloud.
Even though cloud gaming is still in an early stage, the new technology is already proving to have the ability to change the gaming world for good. The variety of cloud gaming services available today is growing steadily as more and more companies jump on the bandwagon to get their piece of the pie. While it will still take some time for the technology and infrastructure to mature, the potential of cloud gaming seems huge.
