The future of gaming is digital

The reality of content consumption has changed drastically in the last few years. Companies are gravitating towards models that provide more benefits to gamers who are online and connected, origins of these tendencies could be seen in exclusive digital versions, Xbox Games with Gold, and PS Now. Those models can be traced back to 2014, and they have all evolved to better fit the current reality.

Between 2017 and 2018, further steps were taken in the digital direction, companies like Sony, Epic, and Microsoft started giving out digital free games, following the path of legendary free video game titles like Old School Runescape which is free to play but you need OSRS Gold in order to progress through the game and the newly released Runescape 3 with its own RS3 Gold. While some of them were associated with a service like Playstation Now or Xbox Game Pass, others like Epic and Steam had free titles available. Free titles have become a common fidelity program, and practice in the industry, but obviously, the catch is that you need a connection, and/or a subscription. Regardless, the incentives towards a transition steadily grow.

In 2019, a tendency that would be born with Google’s console Google Stadia would be adopted by two of the best selling consoles of the industry: Microsoft and Sony. The 9th generation of consoles would see the Xbox Series S and the Playstation 5 Digital version, popularize and confirm that the digital tendency is here to stay.

Streaming games was, and still is a very complex thing especially given internet connection limitations in underdeveloped countries, or server distances being unpredictable for players. But as those barriers start to slow down, and models such as Xbox Game Pass open up the chance of having downloadable catalog opportunities start to open up.

At the same time companies like NVIDIA, and Microsoft is investing heavily in portable gaming, either by digital machine or by allowing streaming from your console to your other devices. This shift towards portability, and removing the need for a physical dedicated machine to game has created two new topics of conversation in the industry: built-in gaming, and a bigger interest in streaming games.

Built-in gaming

The biggest news probably comes out of Microsoft, expanding upon its xCloud project, the company has announced ahead of its 2021 E3 presentation that it is working closely to have the Xbox built-in to any television or monitor with direct access to the internet. This means that no console would be necessary to play, even more so as they announced recently that they would be providing cloud gaming through browsers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.

This type of proposition is not entirely new as Google Stadia, and NVIDIA had already developed similar strategies, but the massive investment of Microsoft, definitely moves the status quo of the industry. Questions about the necessity of consoles begin to arise, and conversations about what the next-generation consoles start to come up. If digital machines become popular, while TVs and monitors start to deliver comparable high-quality performance as machines, the future of consoles starts to seem bleak. And if all you need is an internet connection, opportunities arise for new companies, especially streaming giants such as Amazon and Netflix.

Streaming and gaming

It is essentially impossible to talk about streaming services without mentioning Amazon or Netflix. Both companies have developed connections with the gaming industry the former by their Twitch purchase, Amazon Gaming, and the recently founded Amazon Studios. They have heavily invested in creating games, streaming games, and even positioning themselves as a marketplace providing skins, games, and digital goods to their subscribers. Whichever manner you are acquainted with Amazon, one thing became abundantly clear, they have an interest in the gaming industry.

Netflix on the other hand doesn’t have such a clear connection to the industry as its competitor, but recently their relationships with behemoths like Valve, Riot, CD ProjektRed, Konami, Capcom, and StudioMDHR are interesting and advantageous because it got the company in the radar of gamers. Collaboration with those companies has yielded popular original serious about DotA, League of Legends with its own LoL accounts, Resident Evil, Castlevania, Cuphead, and the extremely successful The Witcher.

What puts Netflix on the game streaming conversation, is that rumors are piling up about the company’s search for an executive to oversee game development. And while very little is known, the company could start providing titles based upon its most famous original series in the next couple of years, on a streaming model. Technologies might need development, and system requirements for streaming games might be revisited, but Netflix has more than enough knowledge about streaming to make the adaptation, and with their interactive Black Mirror: Bandersnatch proving real-time interactions can be utilized there isn’t much to stop the streaming giant.

The future

Similar to the streaming wars, that escalated to an over-saturated market streaming games might be headed in the same direction. While Netflix pioneered the first streaming war, Microsoft and Google are the ones pioneering game streaming. Both companies are working diligently to make that become a reality, and just as before, all you need is one functional, proven service to invite all types of different companies to follow suit, and it seems like Amazon and Netflix are already following.