What’s the deal with cloud gaming in 2024?

Cloud gaming has been marketed as a console killer, PC killer, and ‘the future of gaming’ throughout its nascent history. While the concept of playing a game on the cloud without owning a high-end device is enticing, the execution of some of the cloud gaming services has been less than stellar. (Stadia, anyone?)

On the other hand, competing services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation Plus Premium, and Nvidia GeForce Now are still going strong, increasing their subscriber base every year. Fundamental challenges notwithstanding, cloud gaming in 2024 is in a great place, with the future only looking brighter for the market.

What holds cloud gaming back?

Learning from past mistakes

The promise of cloud gaming is basically “playing anything you want, anywhere, and on anything”. The underlying infrastructure necessary to make all three of those core tenets a reality consists of solid game support, performance, and device compatibility. When we look at one of the biggest “failures” in cloud gaming i.e. Google Stadia, we can spot some of its mistakes linked directly to these factors.

Google had big plans to disrupt cloud gaming with the introduction of Stadia, and things looked to be going well for some time. However, due to a lack of availability of AAA titles, or even popular games that could have pulled players to the service in droves, Stadia couldn’t make much of a dent in the market, with estimates putting its peak player base somewhere around 750,000 back in 2020.

Compare that to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which already had around 15 to 18 million players by 2020. This was in large part due to the excellent content library offered by Microsoft, distributed seamlessly using the affordable Game Pass. Another reason for Stadia’s failure was forcing players to buy games instead of accessing them as part of a subscription. This became a huge deterrent for gamers, especially those who already owned those games on other platforms and were understandably reluctant to buy them again.

Performance and latency concerns still remain across services, with your internet speed being the biggest roadblock. Even with a 150Mbps connection, you’re likely to experience unplayable framerates, choppy textures, and high latency. As for device compatibility, almost everything except PlayStation Plus Premium supports a variety of devices including your phone, Steam Deck, and Mac.

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Should you care about cloud gaming in 2024?

Absolutely, if it ticks all your boxes

Cloud gaming isn’t a passing fad anymore, that much is obvious. Actual cloud gaming numbers are always hard to come by, but if you add up the subscriber count of all the major players, you can confidently say that at least 70 to 80 million gamers are cloud gamers in 2024. Many reports even claim the actual number is double that, but I have genuine doubts about that. Anyway, close to 100 million isn’t a small number.

So cloud gaming has certainly found a market — people who value the convenience and affordability of playing their favorite games on older or portable hardware, at a fraction of the cost of a gaming PC. If you also belong to the camp of gamers who can’t justify splurging on a high-end PC but still want to enjoy a respectable gaming experience on preferred devices, then cloud gaming is a great option for you.

Of course, you need a seriously powerful internet connection (300-400Mbps, according to some) to get a decent, lag-free experience. Your proximity to the cloud server you’re connecting to is also a factor, so take that into account as well, based on your location. As for which service deserves your money, I consider both Xbox Cloud Gaming and PlayStation Plus Premium worthy contenders, thanks to their great libraries and relatively affordable pricing.

GeForce Now simply allows you to stream games that you already own to your phone or a low-end PC or laptop, so the target market is a bit narrow there. As for Amazon Luna, the total cost is unnecessarily high considering the limited selection of games and the inferior performance compared to the competition.

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Who will win cloud gaming?

All eyes on Microsoft

When we look to the future, it’s not always easy to make informed predictions, but in the case of cloud gaming, Microsoft seems to be leading comfortably. Not only that, it has the biggest chance to become the dominant force in this niche. It has no lack of resources, seems committed to growing its cloud gaming efforts, and excels in the content and performance parameters I mentioned above.

With more deals like the one it made with Epic Games to bring Fortnite into the fold, Microsoft stands to gain tremendously from the rapidly growing cloud gaming market. The Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which includes the cloud gaming service by default, is a seamless entry for new entrants, and despite the recent price hike, continues to offer top-notch value.

Other players like PlayStation Plus Premium and Shadow, although great options, don’t seem to enjoy the widespread popularity of Xbox due to the combined might of the PC and console players. Sony will no doubt remain a top player in the cloud gaming space, but I believe Xbox Cloud Gaming will lead the way into the next era of “anytime, anywhere, on anything” gaming.

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Cloud gaming will easily co-exist with PC gaming

The predicted rapid rise in cloud gaming in the years ahead doesn’t mean that PC gaming will suddenly start seeing a decline. Those who regard the superior experience of a dedicated device will continue to invest in high-end gaming PCs, laptops, and handhelds, but cloud gaming isn’t competing with those devices anyway. It simply offers an alternate way to experience your favorite games, as long as the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for you.

There will always be some downsides to cloud gaming, from performance and game availability to device incompatibility and service downtime. However, if you have the option to stream AAA titles that you otherwise don’t have access to (either due to exclusivity or hardware concerns) on your phone, work laptop, or even a handheld, isn’t that pretty cool? Plus, even with the monthly subscription, it’ll be years until the fees add up to that of a high-end PC.