The Incoming Storm: Cloud Gaming Is Positioned to Change the Games Business as Newzoo Releases Global Cloud Gaming Report
The incoming storm that is cloud gaming has the potential to change gaming in a way unseen since the rise of mobile games. It seems as though the entire games business can’t stop talking about the potentially disruptive tech. Today, we are ecstatic to announce the release of our first Global Cloud Gaming Report. The 70+ page PDF report includes a regional breakdown of cloud gaming’s serviceable obtainable market (SOM), as well as paying users and revenues per region.
Cloud gaming’s SOM will grow to 124.7 million users by 2022. These people are those who can be realistically considered as potential users of a cloud gaming service. They must be somewhere where the service is available, aware of the service, and interested in it conditionally.
In this article, we will explain what cloud gaming is and why everybody is talking about it. We’ll also showcase the current state of the cloud gaming ecosystem, finishing with a hint toward the future of the tech.
What Is Cloud Gaming?
Essentially, cloud gaming is the ability to play a game on any device — without owning the physical hardware to process said game and without owning a local copy of the game. Cloud gaming has existed for years now, but this has generally been on a national or a regional level, with few cloud gaming services going global.
So far, no cloud gaming platform has enjoyed major success. Sony’s PlayStation Now is the largest right now, boasting 700,000 subscribers as of April 2019. However, Sony’s platform also allows users to download select games — not just stream them. The company has since confirmed that many consumers use PlayStation Now as a download service.
Why Is the Entire Games Market Talking About Cloud Gaming?
Arguably, Google announcing its upcoming cloud gaming platform, Stadia, is what catalyzed cloud gaming developing into one of the hottest and most-talked-about topics in the business. Google’s announcement marks the tech giant taking a more active role in the games business, more directly competing with companies such as Sony and Microsoft. The former has already been operating PlayStation Now since 2014, while Microsoft will test its Project xCloud cloud gaming platform later this year. Many other of the biggest names in tech — including Tencent and Amazon — have either announced or are rumored to be working on their own cloud gaming solutions.
What Does the Cloud Gaming Ecosystem Currently Look Like?
All these massive players’ moves into cloud gaming have naturally piqued interest in the disruptive tech, in the games business and beyond. This is part of the reason why we’ve leveraged our games market expertise to develop our first Global Cloud Gaming Report from the ground up. The report is your key to understanding how cloud gaming will affect the games business, backed with data, expert insights, and guidance on this still-uncertain market — right now and in the years to come. Included in the report is the below ecosystem image, which highlights the intricate relationships between the various stakeholders in the cloud gaming business.
As you can see, the ecosystem begins with the cloud infrastructure, which consists of hundreds of data centers across the globe. These data centers host cloud gaming platforms filled with content created by game publishers and developers. Of course, ISPs and telcos will play a central role in the ecosystem, as the gatekeepers between cloud gaming services and the end users. In turn, these users can access their platforms of choice via an array of screens and devices.
What’s Next for Cloud Gaming?
Naturally, understanding the current cloud gaming ecosystem is just the first step for any stakeholder in the games business. More important is understanding how the market will grow and evolve in the coming years, and what it means for traditional forms of console, PC, and mobile gaming.
Luckily, our Cloud Gaming Report can give you actionable insights into key market developments toward 2022. The 70+ page PDF report includes a regional breakdown of cloud gaming’s serviceable obtainable market (SOM), as well as paying users and revenues. We include three scenarios: base, optimistic, and pessimistic — both globally and split per region. Understand the opportunities and threats and how this technology will impact stakeholders in the games business, including publishers, game stores, console makers, ISPs/telcos, mobile devices, PC and hardware manufacturers, peripheral manufacturers, connected devices, and PC gaming cafes.
How is cloud gaming going to affect different industries and who is best positioned to make gains? How many gamers will be attracted to cloud gaming’s value proposition? How much and which kind of content will be available? How quickly will these services expand geographically, given their dependence on fast Internet connections and proximity to data centers? Find out with Newzoo’s Cloud Gaming Report.
Want to learn more? Reach out to us at questions@newzoo.com.
