Cloud gaming is one of the numerous applications for fast internet speeds, including those provided by India’s future 5G wave. The word refers to a new form of playing games that, unlike traditional gaming, does not require on powerful technology found in high-end phones, handhelds, desktop computers, or consoles. Cloud gaming, on the other hand, is entirely dependent on a good and fast internet connection.
Cloud Gaming is a game that operates on a data server and is accessed remotely by participants through their computers. While the user collects input for the games and the result is presented to them, the game’s processing is done remotely and requires an internet connection to transfer data to the cloud, process it, and display an output back on the player’s display in real-time.
To explain this, suppose you’re playing a game on a PC or a console, and while your mouse, keyboard or controller, and display are still at your desk, the CPU or the console’s body is somewhere else. Internet connectivity, rather than cables, links your monitor and peripherals to your CPU/console and back to your monitor.
While games are practically’streamed’ across the cloud, your inputs and actions are reflected in real-time in the game. Many cloud gaming services may be familiar to you. This, therefore, necessitates an extremely fast and consistent internet connection.
The fundamental advantage of cloud gaming is the absence of specialised gear required to operate games. This is ideal for casual gamers who do not want to spend thousands of rupees on high-end PCs, whether they buy an assembled one or construct one themselves.
This feature alone drew many people into cloud gaming during the early COVID years, when GPUs were scarce and thus constructing a gaming PC was an expensive endeavour. Furthermore, newer systems, such as the Sony PS5, were in short supply almost everywhere in the world.
Cloud gaming has its drawbacks. It does not support all games, and even for the ones that do support cloud gaming, the experience is frequently poorer than running the same game locally on a PC or console. These constraints might include the maximum framerate, the highest resolution settings, and so on.
Another consideration is latency. In principle, anything linked via the internet will have some type of delay, even on incredibly fast connections.
Google recently stated that its fairly popular cloud gaming service Google Stadia would be discontinued in January 2023 owing to a lack of demand. Other programmes, such as Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, and Sony’s own PlayStation Plus Premium, remain popular.
Cloud gaming is projected to grow in popularity in the next years. According to Grand View Research, the cloud gaming market, which accounted for $691.6 million in 2021, is forecast to expand at a 45.8% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2022 and 2030, quickly becoming a billion-dollar sector.
If you want to try your hand at cloud gaming, you may do so with Sony’s PlayStation Plus Premium, Nvidia’s GeForce Now, or Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming.
