What is cloud gaming? Buzzword or business model? What impact will it have on the evolution of the games industry? And how can companies get involved? James Batchelor provides a guide to this rapidly developing technology
BELIEVE IT or not, you probably already know what cloud gaming is – even if you think you don’t. It’s a term often linked with games streaming services like OnLive and Gaikai, but it has also become intrinsic to other growing trends. Alex Croft, group strategic development director at Gem, explains: “A cloud gaming service offers the gamers access to a potentially vast selection of their gaming content. They can play, update, share and enjoy this from a variety of devices and platforms, whenever and wherever they want.” That encompasses online networks such as Call of Duty Elite, social games like Draw Something, and even Microsoft’s Xbox SmartGlass – if you access it through multiple devices, the game is in the cloud. And cloud technology is by no means new. If anything our industry is just catching up – other entertainment sectors have been exploring the benefits through services like Netflix and LoveFilm for years. Meanwhile, the likes of Google Docs, Dropbox, Spotify, YouTube are part of most people’s daily lives.
IN THE CLOUDS
It’s less commonly known that the term ‘cloud’ originates from a 1994 patent and other documents trying to explain the abstract nature of the technology (above right). As you can see, a wide range of functions are handled in the cloud by a server or data centre and then transmitted to PCs, smartphones, tablets and other devices. And this level of convenience has captured the world’s imagination.
OnLive’s Grove, StreamMyGame’s Swiftly, SoftLayer’s Wisler and LeaseWeb’s Grimwood (pictured left to right) champion the potential of cloud technology
are detached from having just one device that can access these things.” And given that most people own more than one internet-connected device nowadays – whether it’s a smartphone, PC or console – the potential for gaming is huge. “At home, people can play games on their desktop computer but when they leave the house, they can continue to play those same games on the bus to work via their mobile phone,” says hosting firm LeaseWeb’s global business development manager Phil Grimwood. “The social aspect of cloud gaming is also something that people really like. They can play games on the go with their friends. Games are simply more fun in a connected world because of the social aspects of them.”
Cloud gaming also grants users access to high-end titles on low-end devices such as mobiles and laptops, because the bulk of the computing is handled by the server.
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Streaming has moved us away from having to use a single device for media.
Bruce Grove, OnLive
“Streaming has moved us away from having to use a single device for media,” explains OnLive general manager Bruce Grove. “Cloud gaming is a logical extension of that, allowing the same games to be played on connected TVs, PCs and smartphones.” Jonathan Wisler, general manager for EMEA at IT hosting firm Softlayer, adds: “Mobile phones, tablets and even iPods are getting much faster and much more powerful. We’re getting to the stage where people
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES You’d be forgiven for thinking that such tech is only available to bigger publishers but experts tell us it is levelling the playing field. Granted, larger publishers are able to easily fund their own servers and data centres, but there are a number of companies, such as LeaseWeb and Softlayer, that will help smaller firms by selling them space on their servers. Grimwood says: “Traditionally when bringing a game to market, the developer/publisher would have to invest heavily into infrastructure and a low latency network.