Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we’re looking at three ways cloud gaming services can grow their player base.
Cloud gaming entered the scene with promises of convenient, cost-effective, and easy-to-use platforms that enable you to play video games on demand on any device—be it a PC, laptop, television, or even a mobile device—regardless of hardware requirements. And while this is indeed true, this tech hasn’t really caught on with gamers just yet, at least not to a degree where it can overtake traditional hardware-based local gaming. The tried and tested approach of buying your own hardware (PCs or gaming consoles) is still how most gamers prefer to play their games, despite the benefits promised by cloud gaming. So why isn’t it more popular?
First things first, what is cloud gaming?
Cloud gaming refers to being able to play video games remotely in the cloud. The games are run on powerful servers hosted by the service provider, and the output is streamed over the internet to the user’s device with the platform also registering their inputs. Since the game is being run on the service provider’s hardware, the user is not required to purchase powerful (and expensive) hardware or install game files locally. All you need is a stable internet connection and a device that can run the cloud gaming platform.
There are still a few rough edges
Cloud gaming is in its infancy, so there’s still some work to do before it can be considered a viable replacement for local gaming.
The main issue with cloud gaming is input latency. Latency is a given since these games are being streamed, but service providers must do everything they can to ensure that latency is kept at a minimum. Latency isn’t a massive issue when it comes to single-player games. However, in a competitive multiplayer game, even the smallest amount of lag can be the difference between winning and losing, and cloud gaming, in its current state, simply isn’t suitable for competitive gaming. There’s also the fact that a lot of video game publishers still aren’t convinced by cloud gaming, meaning your options are quite limited if you decide to go the cloud route.
So how do cloud gaming service providers boost their player count?
As we’ve already discussed, cloud gaming is nascent technology, so it’s unrealistic to expect it to immediately become the preferred way to play. But here are three strategies cloud gaming service providers can use to increase their popularity.
1. Keep costs low
Cost-effectiveness is the biggest draw of cloud gaming. Hardware costs are constantly skyrocketing. For example, in 2016, NVIDIA’s high-end graphics card, the GTX 1080 Ti, launched at $699. NVIDIA’s latest high-end graphics card, the RTX 4090, launched with a price tag of $1,599.
If you’re a cloud gaming service provider, you can capitalize on these astronomical hardware prices to launch affordable subscriptions for your platform. You’re essentially fixing one of the major problems plaguing the gaming industry right now, which could convince a lot of gamers to at least give your platform a chance. In this case, by providing affordable pricing packages, you’re also tapping into a market full of gamers on a budget who would otherwise not even be able to dream of playing the latest games due to high costs of hardware.
2. Invest in performance improvements
As we’ve already seen, this kind of gaming is intrinsically prone to latency issues. Excessive latency can completely derail the gaming experience, even in single-player games, and you can’t expect everyone to have a fast and reliable internet connection that can minimize latency. Consider setting up multiple edge servers closer to your user base that are well-equipped to handle network traffic, especially if you manage to build yourself a large user base. Companies like NVIDIA are also working on technologies such as Reflex to reduce latency in games, especially competitive online shooters where latency need to be minimized as much as possible.
3. Adopt consumer-friendly practices
Cloud gaming is, at its very core, a digital-only approach to gaming. Digital services have received flak for how they handle content ownership, with companies like Sony going as far as delisting content that was paid for. Cloud gaming providers should make sure to follow consumer-friendly practices when it comes to content and licensing.
Let’s look at Steam, the most popular digital game distribution service, as an example. When a game you purchased is delisted from the store for any reason, it is not removed from your library, because you purchased it. If cloud gaming does catch on and these platforms set up their own digital stores, it’s important to follow in the footsteps of platforms like Steam, which is known for its fair practices when it comes to handling digital content ownership. You can also offer deals and even free games like the Epic Games store does every week to attract new players to your platform.
Is the future of gaming on the cloud?
Cloud gaming has admittedly had a bit of a checkered past. We’ve seen massive failures like Google’s Stadia and success stories like NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, which currently has 23 million users even though the service isn’t available worldwide. The success of GeForce NOW is proof that gamers are willing to give cloud gaming a chance. Now, whether this tech actually takes off depends on the business practices of the service providers. If they’re able to provide easy-to-use, functional, and affordable platforms, the future of cloud gaming certainly looks bright.
