The future of Games is the so-called cloud gaming. The basic idea is to store games in the cloud, i.e. on computers that are more powerful than home ones, and make them accessible by subscription, at any time and on any device (console, smartphone, PC). The impact of cloud gaming could change the face of the video game industry: "The threat to traditional console hardware sales is very real," writes the Financial Times.
In chronological order, the most important news for Italy comes from Sony Interactive Entertainment, which announced the arrival in our country of PlayStation Now, a cloud gaming service that will allow PlayStation 4 owners to access a collection of over 600 games without having to download them. A sort of Netflix of video games. Playstation Now is already active in the USA, UK and other countries. To get an idea of what is at stake, it is worth remembering – as did Nova, the innovation insert of the Sole 24 Ore – that the video game market a worldwide turnover of 137,9 billion (source: PWC) compared to 122 billion raised with books, 41 billion with cinema, 30 billion with VOD streaming. Live music has a turnover of 26 billion while recorded music makes 20. The physical Home Video market is at the rear with 16 billion.
But Sony is in good company in this business. According to the latest rumors, Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), e Amazon would be interested in working on a subscription platform for accessing streaming video games.
Google he has had a console in mind for some time and has ready a system designed to work simply with the Chrome browser and a fiber optic connection. On October 5 then Google made its debut Project Stream, for now with limited access and with only one title available: “Assassin's Creed Odyssey”. For Big G, the cloud is not a problem, but the company has no experience in the video game sector. For this reason he made a agreement with Ubisoft (one of the largest development houses in the world).
It is though Microsoft the group best equipped in terms of cloud technologies. The giant created by Bill Gates launched Game Pass two years ago, a service that allows you to access a vast catalog and download titles.
Also, last year Microsoft announced Project xCloud, a new global project to allow users to access "the best gaming experiences from any device, at any time and in any place, thanks to Cloud technology".
CEO Nadella is convinced that he has an advantage over (future) competitors. Microsoft, in fact, is not ignorant of video games, given the experience accumulated with its Xbox. “We have a huge catalog and our own games,” Nadella pointed out, such as Halo.
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