Console and game developers constantly have to reinvent themselves in order to stay ahead of the competition, and it would appear that cloud gaming is the next big thing in playing online games. According to gaming experts, the year 2021 is shaping up to be a significant year for cloud gaming. According to experts, Microsoft will be a substantial source of cloud gaming sales in 2021. Several companies have been attempting to create “cloud gaming” for a few years now. This is similar to how Apple Music or Spotify download music, except for video games.
Let’s look at some of the platforms that will be offering these services and how they differ.
Google Stadia
Google is constantly trying to improve their user experiences. Google Stadia is the first actual long-term forecast for cloud gaming. Gamers are about to get a welcome reprieve after spending years bound to the console update cycle. Stadia gives you access to an ever-expanding digital game library that works on any computer. We’ve finally put it to the test in our own house, and we can confidently claim that it’s a genuine console alternative and, in time, a possible platform killer. It does a lot of things correctly. The service offers on-the-go streaming via phones and tablets, as well as at home on PCs and Chromecast, in addition to remarkably enjoyable output with little to no latency on our home network. Furthermore, Stadia includes built-in YouTube Gaming live-streaming and, if you purchase the Premiere Edition, an ergonomic Wi-Fi controller that decreases latency, demonstrating Google’s thorough examination of Stadia.
Like every other streaming service, your experience would be drastically different depending on your distance from Google’s servers and your communication speed. Unlike consoles, which work about the same from one place to the next, there’s no guarantee that we’ll all have the same experience when it comes to game-streaming. There are a few minor issues with the service that will be resolved over time, but if Google can clear up the mystery surrounding Pro and turn on all of the functionality it promised, it might be the end-all game-streaming site.
Project X-Cloud
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is simply a monthly subscription that includes various providers. Subscribers get Xbox Game Pass for consoles, PC, Xbox Live Gold, EA Play, and access to Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) on Android devices all in one package. That means you’ll be able to choose from a wide range of games on console or PC, all of which you’ll be able to play online, and you might never have to buy a game on the Xbox One or one of the recent Xbox Series S / Xbox Series X consoles again. You won’t need an Xbox or a PC to play your favourite games for the first time because you can stream them from the cloud to your computer.
Link problems and video latency remind you that this isn’t a 1 to 1 experience, but we’re getting closer to making the ‘on the go’ console gaming experience. Combining Game Pass with XCloud is a very appealing prospect, mainly because Game Pass is still one of the best deals in gaming. Since everybody has a phone and lots of people have controllers, the ability to throw your controller in your pocket and access your Xbox library from anywhere might be a big selling point for Microsoft.
Nvidia GeForce
Nvidia has been working on its GeForce Now subscription service for a few years, and it has now graduated from beta to a fully commercially available subscription service. Though it isn’t ideal, it is a convenient and user-friendly service for playing PC games on non-gaming computers. Free and Founders membership tiers are eligible for GeForce Now. The Founders membership gives you preferential access to Nvidia’s systems, as well as streaming with RTX ray-tracing allowed and six-hour gaming sessions. The free membership disables RTX and only allows you to play for an hour at a time before having to wait in line to use Nvidia’s computers again.
GeForce Now, like all other game streaming services, demands a lot of internet bandwidth and speed. For 720p60 game streaming, you’ll need at least a 15Mbps link, and for 1080p60 game streaming, you’ll need at least a 25Mbps connection. To link to your router, you’ll need either a wired or a 5GHz Wi-Fi connection. Although there are a lot of games available, you might have trouble finding them because the user interface for selecting games isn’t very good.
Conclusion
Although each of the three platforms has advantages and disadvantages, it appears that the cloud gaming industry is waiting for most people’s internet speeds to improve. The technology exists and performs admirably under ideal conditions. However, the inconsistency of options for playing games you already own on the go means that none of these services will be as familiar or reliable as console gaming for a long time. Regardless of this, the future appears very exciting, and this new technology could attract new gamers.