I still remember those days when I needed to check the game’s system requirements before getting it. I had a PC with just 128MB RAM and an Intel Celeron processor. The PC wasn’t powerful enough to run most high-end games. Now I have a high-end gaming PC that supports most games. But, I still face the same problem. A lot of high-end game requires me to upgrade my gaming PC. Cloud Gaming is here to solve this big problem of gamers. Now you don’t need to own a high-end gaming PC or keep upgrading to the latest CPU or GPU to enjoy the latest high-end games. In this guide, I will explain Cloud Gaming, how it works, the benefits of Cloud Gaming, and the best Cloud Gaming services.
What is Cloud Gaming?
Cloud gaming is a way of playing games on your system’s browser without downloading them. Cloud Gaming streams games from remote servers to a PC over the internet. Games run on a cloud service and send video output to users. User inputs are sent back to the cloud server and executed in-game. So, anyone can play high-end games on their PC without needing a high-end system. You only need an internet connection and a compatible device to enjoy games. Cloud gaming heavily relies on the internet, so it requires a reliable and high-speed internet connection with low latency.
Cloud gaming is also known as gaming on-demand or gaming-as-a-service.
How does cloud gaming work?
The video game runs on a cloud server with high-performance GPUs and CPUs. Cloud gaming encodes graphics frames into video streams and compresses using video codecs. This compressed video stream along with audio output is sent to the gamer’s device over the internet. The player’s device decodes the compressed video stream and displays it on the screen. The player interacts with the game using controllers or keyboard/mouse. When the player presses any button to perform any action in the game, the input command is sent back to a cloud server and the server performs the action based on the input.
The concept of cloud gaming is old and began in 2010 with the launch of online gaming platforms such as OnLive and Gaikai. However, it gained momentum when big companies like Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, and Sony entered in the cloud gaming market. Sony unveiled PlayStation Now in 2014 offering PS2, PS3, and PS4 games on PC and mobile devices. NVIDIA released cloud gaming service GeForce Now in 2015 offering game streaming to PC, Mac, and Android devices. Microsoft also introduced Xbox Cloud Gaming in 2020. Amazon also entered the market with Luna and Google released Stadia. However, Google gave up and decided to shut down Stadia.
Benefits of Cloud Gaming
To play high-end games, people need high-end PCs or gaming consoles. Not all people can afford them. So, Cloud Gaming brings high-end games to most people. It doesn’t require high-end gaming devices. You only need a compatible device and a subscription to a cloud gaming service. It also doesn’t require purchasing individual games because a subscription to a cloud gaming service already brings a vast library of games at a fraction of the cost. Users also don’t need to download games and their updates. They can stream games instantly and enjoy.
Popular Cloud Gaming Services
Here’s a list of some popular cloud gaming services:
- NVIDIA GeForce Now
- PlayStation Now
- NVIDIA GeForce Now
Wrap Up
The way Cloud gaming is gaining popularity, the future of Cloud gaming looks incredibly promising. According to a report by Market.Us, the Cloud Gaming market is was at USD 5.0 Billion in 2023 and expected to be worth USD 143.4 Billion by 2032. Now that fast internet has become accessible to most people and latency is decreasing, Cloud gaming is bringing high-end games to most people. Tech companies are working hard to make cloud gaming affordable and better. For now, most cloud gaming services use a dedicated GPU for each user. This leads to a waste of resources. So, companies are working on GPU scheduling algorithms to share GPU with multiple users if it is not being fully utilized by a user.
