As we head into the winter season, an emerging discussion in the gaming community revolves around the concept of “cloud gaming” or “cloud computing”. So what is cloud gaming and what does it actually entail?

Cloud gaming is when you stream a game to your computer while you are playing it instead of  purchasing a digital or physical copy of a game and then downloading it onto your computer. The ability to play a game in real time provides the potential for games to improve at a higher rate and become more accessible. However, there could be a few potential drawbacks concerning cloud gaming. 

One concern is an  increased latency depending on where you are located in comparison to the people you’re playing with, as well as the fact that there are a ton of people trying to stream games all at once, companies could be faced with some serious server issues or the experience could just be very choppy. Most gaming companies are trying to circumvent these drawbacks, each in their own way. 

Now, in my opinion on cloud gaming, I see a few positives and negatives. For one it would make gaming much more accessible to a larger audience; however I’m the type of guy who likes to purchase and own video games. Cloud gaming sounds like you will need a paid subscription to continue playing games, now it could work as it does now where you’re purchasing the rights to the video game and you can stream it whenever you’d like, but i see companies like Microsoft and Sony leaning toward the paid subscription option because it simply makes more sense financially. Another positive is you don’t have to manage your hard drives as much because you won’t be downloading anything onto your console, it’ll just be there when you need it.

There are many possible avenues gaming companies can choose to take when the discussion of “next generation gaming” is discussed, regardless of what direction they take, I know full well that the industry will continue to improve and become more accessible for years to come.