Video games make considerable progress and growth every year in visual and graphical terms. This, while it can be very appealing and captivate gamers even more, can also cause concern in the gamer community. That is because they need suitable hardware for proper execution and processing of a game and an enjoyable experience of it. Many computer-game players are deprived of experiencing up-to-date games because they do not have suitable hardware. Even assuming they have an acceptable gaming system, you may be among those ambitious gamers who want a flawless visual experience of a masterpiece, highly detailed video game such as Red Dead Redemption 2 or Cyberpunk 2077. But obtaining hardware that can deliver such an experience usually turns out very expensive.
Even assuming one has the best gaming system, no one can carry their console or personal computer with them at every time or in every place. You might want to play a computer game during a trip and in a car, but you cannot take your heavy gaming hardware along. “Cloud gaming” technology is exactly what is needed to solve such problems.
What is cloud gaming technology and how does it work?
Cloud gaming is a new method for running video games in which the player does not need to download, install and run the game on their local, personal system. In this method the game is run and processed on another server, and the player can, through an online connection and by connecting remotely to that server, merely play, or more precisely stream, the game on their own operating system. Cloud gaming technology is another name for game streaming.
Computer games played in this way are called cloud games because they do not need local software or hardware to run and process. As a result, a game that requires powerful gaming hardware and can be run only on a device such as a PC can be experienced on weaker hardware such as an Android phone. In this state, sound and image are displayed on your local platform and you can play through a mouse or keyboard or controller.
The best cloud gaming services
At present there are various large and small gaming services that provide cloud gaming. The most popular and best-known cloud gaming services at present are Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (Xbox Cloud Gaming), NVIDIA GeForce Now, Sony PlayStation Now and Amazon Luna.
Buying Xbox Game Pass
The Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription service belongs to Microsoft. It is at present the most popular and best cloud gaming service among audiences of this technology. Of course this service is not limited solely to providing cloud-gaming services. Rather, on the basis of a monthly subscription it also gives its subscribers access to hundreds of different video games.
The advantage of this service is access to exclusive games from Microsoft's subsidiary companies and providing a relatively smooth and more balanced experience compared with other rivals. But the number of Game Pass games offered by this service is also limited, and its subscription cost of fifteen dollars a month is relatively high. This cloud gaming service runs on various operating systems, including Xbox consoles, personal computers, the web, Android and Samsung smart TVs.
GeForce Now account
The NVIDIA GeForce Now service is NVIDIA's cloud gaming service. Buying a GeForce Now account and subscription has two main advantages. First, among other cloud gaming services it has the greatest support for different video games, and through it the user can play 1,500 titles and more. Another advantage is the existence of a free plan that enables the user to access this service at no charge. But it should be noted that its free plan has a daily time limit and the user must also wait for a while in a queue. Also, in order to play with the GeForce Now service you must have purchased your games beforehand, and this service itself does not provide you with any titles. Its paid subscription, at 20 dollars a month, also turns out very expensive and, compared with other rivals, needs more powerful internet. This cloud gaming service can run computer games at up to 4K resolution and a rate of 120 frames per second. It also allows you to run your games on various platforms.
PlayStation Plus service and Luna cloud gaming
By buying a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription one can also run a limited number of Plus Premium games (around 300 titles) on Sony's game console and a personal computer. The main advantage of buying a Plus Premium account is access to Sony's exclusive titles. It also needs weaker internet than other rivals, and a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription costs 18 dollars a month.
Amazon Luna's cloud gaming service is less popular among its rivals. Amazon Luna's price, at a subscription cost of 10 dollars a month, is more affordable; but the titles it provides are very limited.
The future of cloud gaming
The global cloud gaming market was valued at 3.37 billion dollars in 2022. This amount is forecast to increase from 5.76 billion dollars in 2023 to 84.97 billion dollars by 2030. These forecasts rest on the assumption that cloud-based games will be the future of the gaming industry.
One of the reasons that reinforce this assumption is the spread and rising popularity of the smartphone platform and a strong appetite for mobile games. This increase in appetite had a particularly sharp upward aspect during COVID. People's inclination to play on smartphones provides a suitable opportunity to strengthen cloud gaming. That is because, with the development of cloud gaming, people will be able to experience any video game they want on their smartphone.
Drawbacks and problems related to the cloud gaming space
Cloud games are emerging and have not yet been developed and become widespread as they should. Experts have noted that this technology will certainly transform the future of the game industry; even so, what we currently have under the heading of cloud gaming has numerous problems and challenges.
At present the biggest issue facing services that provide cloud gaming is problems related to the internet. Streaming a video game is not like streaming an audio and video file. That is because, in the online connection involved in cloud gaming, the internet network must receive the commands you issue as the player and transfer them to the main server and then display the result. The slightest delay in this process will have a negative effect on the player's experience of gameplay. On the other hand, the more smoothly and visually appealing an experience of the game the user wants, the more stable and faster internet they need. It is to be hoped that with advances related to internet infrastructure over the coming years this problem will be resolved.
On the other hand, companies that provide cloud gaming services usually face the problem of persuading various studios to release their games on these services. Even after it is accepted that this release will take place, it usually happens with a long delay. For example, games that enter Microsoft's Game Pass are sold directly for a period of nearly one year. Something like this certainly reduces the popularity of buying a subscription to similar cloud gaming services, because the player prefers to buy the game directly rather than wait a year and then, by buying a subscription, be able to experience it. Microsoft's effort to buy Activision Blizzard should be understood in part as a result of this very limitation. If Microsoft can increase its exclusive titles, it can, by offering them simultaneously in video-game stores and on its Game Pass, attract a large audience for its Game Pass.
As a result, despite the several years that cloud gaming services have been active, even inside well-known cloud gaming services there are various limitations, such as a limitation on available titles (there is a strong chance that you will look for a particular title and not find it), a limitation on offering these titles on various platforms (you find a particular title but it is not available on the platform you have in mind), problems in providing a smooth and stable experience, and the very high and unaffordable price of their subscriptions.
These are some of the problems that cloud gaming services currently face, and they are expected to be resolved in the not-too-distant future.
Final remarks
Cloud gaming technology should be understood as continuing along the path that occurred with online film streaming subscriptions and then music, and with companies such as Netflix and Spotify. Just as on online film and series streaming services you can, by paying a subscription, have access to a world of film and music and experience them as a stream and online, cloud gaming has a similar function. With this difference that at present only one percent of all spending on video games is allocated to the cloud gaming system. Meanwhile, online music and film streaming services have been able to shake the film-making and music industries. This has meant that there has always been doubt about extending the idea of online film and music streaming to video games. This doubt can be seen in particular in the experience of the failure and shutdown of Google Stadia's cloud gaming service. This service, while it was among the pioneers in providing a cloud gaming experience, ended its work in January 2023 by refunding its audience's payments.
With all these considerations, it seems that cloud gaming, although it has a very winding path ahead, can, by passing the obstacles in front of it, become the future of the computer-game industry. At the head of these obstacles, cloud gaming must be able to become an affordable experience for all users worldwide. At present cloud games are a relatively expensive experience, and this is contrary to the nature and raison d'etre of such a system. In addition, the trend of development and expansion of video games has a direct relationship with internet-related infrastructure. As a result of the growth of this infrastructure, cloud gaming services can become a smooth experience, which at present they fall short of.
Sources
bitpin.ir/academy/what-is-cloud-gaming
www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-cloud-gaming-services
money.com/best-cloud-gaming-services
shahrsakhtafzar.com/fa/articles-guides/console-game/24069-cloud-gaming-future-gaming
fortunebusinessinsights.com/cloud-gaming-market-102495
Tarjoman Quarterly 28
Machine-translated from Persian by Namafar; the Persian original is authoritative. Read the original in Persian