#043 GAD BA5: Contextual Studies Essay

Cloud Gaming and it’s effects on both users and the game industry.

In this essay I will be explaining what Cloud Gaming is, it’s development as well as how it will affect the gamers (user) and the industry (both publishers and game company). I will include information I have found from both firsthand and secondhand research (see blog for Survey and Results).

Cloud gaming, otherwise known as “Gaming On Demand” is a way of providing users with games onto their computer, without physically downloading the content of the actual game. The user streams the game from a server, and then the processing needs for the game are handled by that server that. When the user interacts with the game they are transmitted directly to the server, the server then registers the control input and sends the games response back to the user. This eliminates the need for expensive hardware such as graphics cards and processors, which can cost up to thousands of pounds.

The idea first appeared over a decade ago, primarily by a company called “G-Cluster”, who first showed their cloud gaming at the Electronic Arts Expo in 2000. At the time this was limited as G-Cluster only demonstrated a cloud service that streamed a game to a smaller hand held device, which still required the user to have a considerably powerful console or hardware. It was only later that the development of cloud gaming got to a stage where the games content and game code execution were handled primarily by the server “clusters”. “Clusters” being a group of computers that are connected to each other in a local area connection that work together in such a way that it can be viewed as a single system. These clusters do all the performance intensive operations which were previously done on the users side. This allows the player to use a less powerful system to play the game than the game would normally require as Server.

The first commercial cloud gaming service was released in March of 2010 in the USA, by the American Company OnLive. They utilised G-Cluster technology which by then had been further developed. It used IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), which is a service where digital media is delivered to a TV set via the internet as opposed to the standard terrestrial, satellite signal and cable. It was set up with a monthly service fee, plus the one off payment of the game and the microconsole. The microconsole was essentially a mini console. Later on though, OnLive removed the monthly fee from their business model and anyone who signed up and originally played the monthly service fee had their account marked as a “Founding Member”.

This was quickly followed by the cloud gaming service which was released in November of 2010 in France, also utilising the now developed G-Cluster technology by the French company SFR (Société Française de Radiotéléphonie which translates as the French Society of Mobile Technology).

In the last few years, many other commercial cloud gaming services have been set up. Gaikaie, which allows game publishers to embed games on their websites, launched firstly with games from EA Games (Electronic Arts) including games such as Dead Space 2, Mass Effect and even the Sims 3. The games can be embedded into web pages using the Gaikaie service including facebook, mobile devices and TPTV’s. Cloud Union soon followed Gaikaie, a Chinese gaming company, then provided a service similar to OnLive.

Cloud gaming could substantially remove the need for the user to spend large amounts of money on hardware, thus allowing them to spend more money on games. It would open up what could be considered “Hard Core” gaming to those who previously could not afford to do so, charging them a small monthly fee instead of a large one off payment of hundreds or thousands of pounds. Users would be able to sign in to a cloud service anywhere in the world and be able to play games within seconds, as long as a stable internet connection is present. Friends would be able to essentially “bring” games with then when playing together, without actually having to bring the physical disk and wait for the game to install and download patches. Everything would be stored and saved on the external server, making the usability of games much more effective. Games would not be limited to specific handsets/consoles, users could play the same game, with the same profile on multiple platforms such as tablets, phones, televisions and computers. This is often an important consideration for today’s gamers.

The new opportunity to use money saved from the lack of need to buy hardware, will create the opportunity to play more games, and for gaming to become more diverse and affordable. Naturally, some games are better or easier to play on certain platforms. For example, a first person shooter, a video game genre which centers the gameplay around a projectile weapon (such as a gun or rifle) based combat through a first person perspective, such as Battlestrike - Force of Resistance, Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth, Codename: Nina - Global Terrorism Strike Force or the Battlefield game series, generally are better for Desktops or Laptops because having a mouse to direct the aim crosshair is much more precise than using a dual analogue or even single analogue sticks. The better playability of certain games on some consoles but not on others would create a gap, whereby if the user has multiple platforms, i.e Desktop and Tablet, the user would be more likely to fill with additional games that are tailored more to the other platform that they have, but still retain the option to play all games on multiple platforms.

Users will not only be able to play multiple games on multiple platforms while only paying a monthly cost (if one does apply), they would be able to easily share their account with their friends. This would allow other uses to trial/test games. If they enjoy the game then the “borrowed” user would be encouraged purchase the game, just as the original user had. Of course there would be likely to be constraints such as single live log-ins (where only one person can be logged into an account at one time), in order to prevent “shared” accounts for multiple users.

With the industry adapting to new technology, Cloud Gaming could potentially open up a higher level of revenue that has ever been seen before. If you consider that approximately 60% of the world’s population play computer games (4.2 billion) with around half of those owning a console, desktop or handheld device, if each person paid a monthly service fee of around $5 (figure taken from the monthly fee of the cloud gaming service OnLive) then the monthly revenue could potentially be in the billions.

With Cloud Gaming possibly being the future way in which the majority users play and utilize games, companies who produce consoles such as Sony and Microsoft, will have to begin focusing on providing fast and stable cluster servers to handle all the computing information for hundreds of thousands of users. Console systems would essentially be made redundant, with the exception of the micro-consoles required to send and receive the information to and from the cluster servers. The monthly fees that the user pays as well as the one off cost of the micro-console would cover any financial change, giving a constant monthly stream of income as opposed to one off payments. Although this would not provide the same pattern of income, it would provide a more stable and medium to long term source of income, taking just over a year to reach the same amount of income from one off sales and then continuing to generate revenue.

Game companies will stay pretty much on their current development track with digital downloads becoming more and more the normal. From the business models of OnLive, Gaikai and others mentioned above, the user would still pay a one off fee for a game, much like they do today. Hard copies of games would be made redundant, much like the consoles, which would consequently save money being spent on CD disks and cases along with the printing and copy costs.

Hardware upgrades would still be needed, but on a much larger scale, upgrading entire clusters of servers, but not necessarily at the same time. Clusters essentially pit their “computing power” into a pool, which is then distributed as needed. Separate clusters could be upgraded at different times, yet still work together to provide a stable system. This could possibly work to the advantage of companies such as Nvidia or Intel, that provide and sell the technology that would be used within the clusters, giving them another huge source of income.

There are some hurdles to be jumped before Cloud Gaming can achieve worldwide recognition, apart from the technical constraints and funding, the main pitfall is the lack internet speed. While some countries such as Japan and China have a typical speed of around 45-55 megabits per second (mbps), even at peak times, other countries such as the UK and US struggle to even reach past 20mbps. Cloud Gaming requires a fast internet connection, with an ideal response time of 5 milliseconds. It will take some time before internet providers improve their services to the stage where they can confidently provide an internet connection that is capable of sustaining a strong and uninterrupted connection to the cloud servers, which is why Cloud Gaming cannot yet become a part of the normal worldwide.

Cloud Gaming is something that is in its infancy. With the right funding, technological developments as well as cooperation between large companies, it could certainly be the future of gaming. But it does not end there, the idea of “renting computing power” can go even further than just playing games, it could even be used by the people who create the games. The principle of using servers to complete complicated processes that a single computer could not do or take a long time to do already exists, it would just need to be further developed to reach stage where everyone can use it on a worldwide scale.

Users would be able to play games anywhere a fast internet connection is available, with no installation, loading times, and no need for high end gaming hardware. They would simply sign up to the service, pay a set amount for the micro-console or even a handheld device (much like a gameboy), then purchase the games they want to play. They can then quickly and easily play these games, almost instantly. Users would not need to install updates or patches, it would all be done on the cloud servers.

Cloud gaming is a system that provides the user with a possibly better alternative to gaming, removing the need for high end hardware to receive the best quality gaming. By utilizing the power of the internet, users can stream games directly from a server that handles most to all computing needs via the internet. Servers would be owned by a service provider such as Microsoft or Sony would provide users with computing power from their servers while charging a monthly service fee. The game industry itself would benefit from the dwindling need for users to pay huge one off fee’s, allowing users to instead purchase more games.


References:

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