Streaming is a natural progression for video games. We’ve seen it with other entertainment mediums and while the standard for the most part right now downloads along with physical disc releases, we’re slowly moving into the streaming service. We have seen Sony use this for their PlayStation Now service which provides gamers with access to PlayStation 3 video games that are streamed for your convenience. Now that Google Stadia is gearing up for its release, we could see a bigger push from other companies to follow a streaming service like platform.
For those unaware, Google Stadia is Google’s entry to the video game industry market. Instead of offering a physical hardware platform for players to pick up, Google is instead providing access to their gaming datacenters. Essentially, this would allow the end-user to stream the latest video game titles to multiple devices without needing any expensive components to meet the video game’s system requirements. Now recently, a Reddit AMA was held to clarify to users that this streaming service is not the Netflix for games. Instead, gamers will still have to purchase the video game titles to stream. This simply eliminates the need for console hardware or higher-end components for your PC.
One company that is keeping tabs on Google Stadia is Nintendo as a recent interview between Fortune and Nintendo of America president, Doug Bowser, recently went up online. During this interview, Doug was asked about his thoughts on streaming in which he replied that the movement is something that Nintendo is watching closely. Whether this plays any role in how Nintendo handles the installments for the Nintendo Switch platform remains to be seen.
Of course, the big question will be if consumers take to the idea of purchasing video game titles that they can only have access to through the Google Stadia online service. While there is a free version of Google Stadia, to achieve 4K with some of the other bells and whistles, players will have to pay a subscription fee.
Source: Fortune, Nintendo Life
