Cloud play on the horizon in changing video game world

LOS ANGELES: Console makers long at the centre of the video game universe are adapting to an exploding constellation of ways to play, with the cloud looming on the horizon.

Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony remained stars, with rival Xbox, Play Station, and Switch gaming hardware respectively, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show floor that opened in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

But the premier industry gathering was very much focused on games themselves, and the idea they can be played as a service hosted in the internet cloud using an array of devices from smartphones to personal computers.

The annual E3 event “occurs against a backdrop of disruption in the console market,” according to IHS Markit games technology research director Piers Harding Rolls. “As the market becomes more digitally enabled and service based, console companies and publishers are starting to map out their longer-term strategies including the building out of subscription cloud gaming services,” Harding-Rolls told AFP.

Companies interested in cloud gaming see it as a way to reach broader audiences, adding to console businesses instead of taking away from them, according to the analyst. “I see consoles being around or the foreseeable future,” Harding-Rolls said.

But the competitive landscape will tilt away from console-market leading Play Station to terrain more favourable to Xbox, he reasoned.

Microsoft has built a powerful platform for hosting computing in the internet cloud, making such service a thriving part of its business.