Signal boost
As the infrastructure for 5G rolls out, the experts weigh in on its pros, cons and next-gen potential
As 5G rolls out, experts weigh in on what it means for games
The new console generation is almost here, mobile gaming has never been bigger and cloud gaming services look set to redefine our hobby. But wireless connections are already struggling to keep up with the demands of a userbase that prizes stability and speed above all else. Fortunately, 5G gaming is also on the horizon. It is a significant step-up from 4G, with median speeds around four times faster, and potentially capable of reaching 20Gbps. From low-latency gaming – with alleged response times of a single millisecond in near-perfect scenarios – to improved download speeds, greater accessibility to those in rural areas and even the form-factor of virtual-reality headsets, 5G could reshape the industry over the next few years.
Ralph Heersink is chief product officer and co-founder of Gameye, a company using its API to help studios manage their games’ multiplayer sessions globally. 5G is of extreme interest to Gameye. “Right now, if you want to launch a competitive mobile game, it’s still hosted in most of the traditional data centres where physical servers are housed, or at one of the three clouds: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud,” he explains. In some parts of Asia or South America, where Internet density and connectivity is less common, mobile games still need to connect to those data centres. “The longer the distance, basically, the more chance the signal will get interrupted. With the introduction of 5G and edge data centres, it gives us the ability to make use of infrastructure that’s closer to all the players.”
5G is so fast because it operates on millimetre waves, with frequencies between 30 and 300Ghz. Because the short wavelengths have much less range than those of 4G, the coverage is greatly reduced, meaning you need many more antennae in more places around the world to benefit from it. Enter edge data centres. They contain resources – such as storage, data services and computing power – taken from a centralised core and redistributed where they’re needed most. They can be packed, usually up to four at a time, inside sea containers that are placed near cell towers. Resources that require low-latency connections are placed closer to the user for better functionality; the rest stay near to the core.
In spite of the benefits, the 5G infrastructure rollout is time-consuming and expensive: it’s almost wholly rolling out in North America for now. But Europe is making moves, Heersink tells us – mobile-Internet providers such as Vodafone and BT are exploring the idea of building 5G infrastructure into their networks. “One of the cool things we’re currently researching is if it’s feasible to only let players play against players that have the same mobile operator.” While playing Fortnite on your phone, for instance, you’d be able to press a button to prefer players on the same mobile network – and therefore, the exact same servers inside said network, giving you a game experience almost indistinguishable from playing on the same couch as them.
We can’t help but wonder what it means for next-generation game consoles and streaming. It will “certainly be possible,’ Heersink says, to connect consoles to the internet via 5G: while he is sure that most will prefer a fibre optic connection, he expects many people in rural and low-density areas to switch to 5G. “The big perks, especially I think for Stadia, is that they offer the games in full 4K resolution; 5G will actually play a very big part in making that happen, especially on mobile devices.” Provided, of course, that Google becomes more agile, branching out from that big server room and deploying more localised 5G data centres near to big connectivity hubs.
But don’t start preparing for your nextgen console to run on 5G: indeed, there’s a chance it might even skip a generation. Heersink estimates it’ll be two to five years before the 5G infrastructure rollout is complete across most of the west. “With all the geopolitics in play, the European Union trying to ban Huawei, which is one of the one of the key suppliers for 5G – that’s going to cause some slowdown.” What we can expect to see in the near future is movement in the VR and AR space. In VR arcades, games with local multiplayer send huge amounts of data between headsets: 5G could make it possible in your own home, or even on your mobile phone. “With the higher data throughput that 5G has, that opens up new possibilities for those games,” Heersink says. And as headsets would be able to process data remotely, we might see the hardware leap big hurdles. “It’s already changing: with the Oculus Rift, the newer models that came out decreased in size and the price has been lowered as well. I still think VR devices will process a lot of data on the local device itself, but it will open up the opportunity to move around more freely – like, you don’t have to have any cables attached to your PC, or be connected to super-professional Wi-Fi. I could see it being as simple as inserting a factory SIM card in the device.”
From low-latency gaming to improved download speeds, 5G could reshape the industry