Why IaaS Is Crucial to a Growing Cloud Gaming Market

Source: pexels.com

Market research firm, ResearchandMarkets, has released an industry report on the global cloud gaming market. The report estimates the market to reach $20.94 billion at a CAGR of 45.8% from 2022 to 2030.

The growing number of gamers worldwide will directly contribute to the cloud gaming market growth. Another contributor is the increased investments in 5G technology. 5G is expected to revolutionize connectivity and enable low to zero latency, which is crucial to a seamless cloud gaming experience.

Furthermore, market trends show companies partnering with telecom firms to provide cloud gaming services worldwide. Companies like LG Electronics worked with Google Stadia to deliver cloud gaming services to LG Smart TVs.

The report also cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor that affected the market growth. As people worldwide adhered to pandemic restrictions, the demand for cloud gaming services rose.

Gamer Types and Other Highlights

Among the regions included in the report, Asia Pacific will see the largest growth during the forecast period. APAC growth is estimated to exceed 40% of the global market. This growth is based on the rise of smartphone/mobile gaming in the region.

When it comes to gamer type, the casual gamer segment will experience the largest growth. It will see a CAGR of more than 45% from 2022 to 2030. Casual gamers are increasing due to the popularity of smartphone gaming.

Meanwhile, for cloud gaming types, experts expect file streaming to increase more than video streaming. File streaming will grow at a CAGR of 46% over the forecast period. File streaming allows gamers to play only after a partial download. This in turn enables game developers to save on the expense of creating media and sending out fixes to players.

IaaS and Other Challenges to Cloud Gaming

The video game industry is huge. In fact, gamers make up 26% of the world’s population. And like what we’ve learned from the report, smartphone gaming and casual gamers are increasing in numbers. Eighty-five percent of gamers use smartphones and 30% use tablets.

Cloud gaming lends itself well to casual gamers and mobile devices since it allows gamers to access high-quality games without the need for expensive consoles with robust computing power.

With that said, uninterrupted cloud gaming still requires high-speed internet connections and high-capacity data centers. The burden of improving infrastructure is placed on cloud providers, particularly on infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).

IaaS is the backbone of the cloud, and, thus plays a crucial role in delivering seamless cloud gaming experiences. As the cloud gaming market grows, cloud providers would need to have a solid infrastructure. This ensures scalability to accommodate new applications and expand existing ones as more users adopt cloud gaming.

As we learned from the report, major cloud provider, AWS, for instance, has done steps geared at supporting cloud gaming. AWS has “integrated purpose-built game creation capabilities—such as AWS solutions, AWS services, and AWS Partners—with six solution areas to assist developers in developing, testing, and growing their games,” stated the report.

As for high-speed internet, governments worldwide are installing 5G technology. This can certainly address latency issues. However, the cloud gaming market still has other technical challenges to face. These include reliability and availability of the service and preserving the data security of users.

Additionally, cloud gaming providers are still experimenting with their pricing models. Some companies include free tiers, a la carte pricing, and freemium add-ons. In-app purchases and microtransactions also add complexity, which could turn away consumers who want to stick to a simple, monthly fee without worries of extra charges.