The gaming industry is one of the most rapidly developing industries in the 21st century, with an ever-increasing diversity of games and global competitions. At the heart of the gaming industry sits the console, whether it is an Xbox, desktop PC, Playstation, or other, this hardware is the gateway to video games. The endless demand for innovation in gaming has pushed developers to create more realistic games with more demanding graphical requirements. As a result, engineers have been pressed to create more intricate hardware designed to process huge quantities of data as quickly as possible. This has culminated to one of the industry's leading companies, Nvidia, to develop their most advanced and expensive commercial graphics card to date, the RTX 2080, with the starting model priced at $800.
As graphics cards reach new heights, so do the minimum hardware specifications of new games. This rising barrier to entry can leave the cash-strapped gamer locked out of the world of newer games. The industry now faces a new problem, how can they bring the best quality games to the most consumers possible?
Enter Cloud Gaming.
After the recent explosions of cloud computing in the business world, businesses are looking at a new application for servers to create value. Cloud Gaming is a method of gaming that outsources the complex graphical processing of gaming to a server center, by simply taking the inputs of the player and returning an output through the players screen. This allows players to have the same experience of gaming without needing expensive hardware.
Currently, the cloud gaming market is only valued at $45 million, and is expected to grow to be worth $450 million in 2023. Many companies are racing to get a slice of the this emerging market. Nvidia, Google, Apple, and Amazon are involved in the cloud gaming industry, and many companies are looking to follow. This is very exciting news for the gaming industry, as it will continue to lower the barrier to entry for players.
Questions:
Are you interested in becoming a customer of cloud gaming?
Do you foresee any challenges that this industry will face as it expands?
As companies race to create huge data centers and remove the need for consumers to buy expensive graphics tech, how do you feel this will affect the computer hardware industry?
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As a fellow gamer, I can confirm this dramatic change in the gaming industry. In the last 5 years or so, gaming has moved from discs to digital downloads, begging the question: is it necessary to even own video games anymore. My brother, an avid video game collector, would argue that there is nothing like playing games on old game cartridges or discs. It may be an awesome experience for fellow collectors like him, but what about the rest of us?
ReplyDeleteMost gamers now enjoy playing a game for a few months and then moving on to the next released title. Only a few have stood the time and allowed long term playability, such as Counter Strike. This points to an interesting trend and the future of gaming: cloud gaming. Many titles now are being released as play-anywhere, where gamers can switch from their home consoles to PCs when they are traveling. It is an intriguing trend and definitely one to watch. It does not, however, bode well for video game collectors like my brother.
Hi Josh,
DeleteI agree that this is a huge change in the gaming industry. As people have to have increased mobility for jobs and as travel becomes more and more accessible, gamers would love to have a solution for on-the-go AAA games. This is a great start.
Of course, as you mentioned, this is a hit to collectors. Because these games are restricted to the vendors, if an account is lost, then so is all the content purchased with the account. As it stands, there are already horror stories of people losing accounts with hundreds of dollars invested, as shown here: https://thenextweb.com/gaming/2018/10/24/sony-psn-name-changes-downsides/
So clearly, this can have significant downsides if gamers are not careful in protecting their data.
I am incredibly fascinated by the world of cloud gaming. Personally, the barrier for entry to play many pc games is to high and expensive for me to consider a switch to PC gaming. If cloud gaming were to become more prevalent and affordable, I could definitely see myself becoming a customer. I definitely feel like companies such as Sony and Microsoft will soon switch their gaming platforms to cloud gaming and forgoing the traditional box system model. Steam already released the Steam Box that uses cloud gaming to let you play your full steam library of games on any screen in your home. Larger companies should soon follow suit.
ReplyDeleteI do for see some challenges ahead for the industry. The first being the cost of server storage, which could be high at the beginning, but eventually will go down over time. Also some consumers might have a hard time making the switch over since they are used to the traditional box model concept .
Computer hardware companies will definitely take a hit at first from technologies such as this, but should try to pivot their product offering to react to this trend. They could make cloud gaming servers or things of that nature to shift with the times.
I am incredibly fascinated by the world of cloud gaming. Personally, the barrier for entry to play many pc games is to high and expensive for me to consider a switch to PC gaming. If cloud gaming were to become more prevalent and affordable, I could definitely see myself becoming a customer. I definitely feel like companies such as Sony and Microsoft will soon switch their gaming platforms to cloud gaming and forgoing the traditional box system model. Steam already released the Steam Box that uses cloud gaming to let you play your full steam library of games on any screen in your home. Larger companies should soon follow suit.
ReplyDeleteI do for see some challenges ahead for the industry. The first being the cost of server storage, which could be high at the beginning, but eventually will go down over time. Also some consumers might have a hard time making the switch over since they are used to the traditional box model concept .
Computer hardware companies will definitely take a hit at first from technologies such as this, but should try to pivot their product offering to react to this trend. They could make cloud gaming servers or things of that nature to shift with the times.
Hi Ryan,
DeleteYou bring up some very interesting points! I do believe we will see a lot of changes in the hardware industry, specifically chipmakers like Nvidia. Although I don’t believe that companies like Nvidia will suffer; while less individual consumers will be purchasing graphics cards, data centers will need more than ever.
From personal experience, I used to be a PC enthusiast, though as my interests changed I began to use it less. Recently I heard about cloud gaming, and realized the market value of my computer would fall quickly, so I recently sold it. I used the cash to purchase an iPad Pro, which will accomplish most of my tech needs, and I can use it for cloud gaming!
I am very interested in the game industry, especially I think it is an industry that is easy to change. Regarding the cloud gaming you mentioned, I very much agree with your point of view, it is developing very fast. The gameplay on the current playbox or steam is still expensive for me, especially for games that have to buy expensive hardware. I am very interested in becoming a cloud game customer because it represents cheap, convenient and new opportunities. If cloud gaming really comes, I think there will be a lot of guests, especially if you mention Google, Apple and Amazon are involved in the development.
ReplyDeleteI think this is an opportunity and a huge challenge, because you don't know when cloud gaming can really be launched. After being launched, there will be almost no bugs, giving players a good gaming experience. The development of cloud gaming is not very expensive, is it really able to attract players who have already bought expensive hardware.
I think cloud gaming will have a big impact on the computer hardware industry, but because it hasn't really come out, it hasn't really been bought. I don't praise how much it will affect the computer hardware industry, but I think it will be a big blow.
I found your article very informative about future trends, as well as exciting. I have loved video games from a young age and it has already been incredible to see the growth that has occurred in the past tens years. I believe that moving forward there won't even be a need to own a disc or take up much memory space on your own to device to play. The concept of streaming a game from online once seemed wild and out of control, but with almost every game already offering online multiplayer and often as the only game mode, it is no shock to see the industry heading this direction. I also believe that having dominant cloud players in the industry like Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple will only fuel competition and advance all their products more rapidly.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who enjoys playing video games but has never made the investment into a high-end PC, I am very excited for the future of cloud gaming. I believe that one of the largest challenges the industry will face is what type of pricing model to use. A subscription type service seems like the logical answer, as we've seen Microsoft adopt with their "Game Pass" service, but if all games move to this model it will likely be at the detriment of developers. We've seen music artists, as well as movie and tv companies, complain about the lack of revenue they recieve from subscription based services such as Spotify and Netflix. With the average game costing $60, it will be interesting to see how large studios price their games. I don't foresee a large decrease in the personal computer hardware industry as people will still need high end hardware for things besides gaming, such as video production and application building.
ReplyDeleteGreat story Matt, I'm very interested in cloud gaming as I like to play video games in my free time and understand the benefits cloud gaming could offer players. I think this especially interesting as I've always wanted to work for a video game company as I think it would be interesting to the development behind it. I don't an immediate threats to cloud gaming I believe it would only positively affect players. I think expensive graphic enhancers will only positively affect the gaming industry as it'll will allow player to afford more expensive hardware as prices will go down as technology continues to advance.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in future changes within the gaming industry. I think cloud-based gaming does solve a need in addressing the costs of consoles and computer components to even get in and play. It would be interesting to see how that would impact the gaming industry. Since the industry appears to be at a crossroads in terms of pricing and game development direction. Another interesting factor would what games they would be able to play and at what resolution. As with most systems and games, the issue is rolling out with little to no bugs. I think that it would be beneficial for the industry to get as many people in at a lower price and then sell upgraded parts for those that want to be more involved in gaming.
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