Global Gaming Market – The Influential Impact of Cloud Gaming Dating back to as early as the 1950s, computer scientists began revolutionizing the era of gaming by developing simple simulations, such as Tic-Tac-Toe (1951), Strachey’s Draughts Program (1951), Tennis for Two (1958), Nimrod (1951), and others. As systems continued to become more complex and intricate, games have become more in-depth and highly sensitive to player capabilities, rapidly paving the way for the evolution of a billion-dollar industry. According to Inkwood Research, the global gaming market is projected to grow with a CAGR of 11.60% between 2023 to 2032, reaching a staggering $1065.12 billion by 2032.
Global Gaming Market: ‘Game-Changing’ Role of Cloud Technology The 1990s broke new ground for noteworthy innovations in gaming, including the transition of graphics from raster to 3D; this gave rise to popular genres, such as first-person shooter (FPS), realtime strategy, and massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. With the year 2024 expected to see 3.32 billion gamers globally, present-day gaming enthusiasts strive to utilize the best technology and devices in order to compete at the highest levels. However, problems associated with hardware compatibility can be a major obstacle for game players and developers alike. Since operating systems and hardware parts are continually changing, developers must regularly update their products to ensure compatibility with newer hardware and software releases, thus further hindering compatibility. In this regard, the gaming market is being forayed by cloud technology, enabling users to stream high-end games on portable devices with faster network connectivity. Cloud gaming has also minimized the constant need for regular hardware upgrades, enabling gamers across the globe to play on their existing and future devices. As per Inkwood Research, the hardware segment, under the component category, captured the highest revenue share of 65.03% in 2022. With cloud gaming expected to break down the existing barriers of platform and costs in the market, cloud gaming solutions are also set to proliferate in emerging countries, where economic as well as low bandwidth barriers have long constrained easy access to gaming. Since consumers from developing regions are more inclined towards the free-to-play gaming model, this factor also creates favorable prospects for players to showcase their products in the market. For example, Nexon (Japan), a leading online game provider, attracts a vast and loyal player base globally owing to the company’s focus on free-to-play games.
Maximizing Revenues with Cloud Gaming | A Smartphone-Driven Era In the global gaming market, cloud gaming or gaming as a service (GaaS) plays a pivotal role in fueling the demand for online services, wherein games are run on servers owned by gaming service providers. Moreover, with faster 4G and 5G internet services, consumers are highly persuaded by companies offering GaaS across all devices. Accordingly, a lucrative opportunity for vendors operating in the cloud gaming sector is to target smartphone gamers, who constitute a sizeable portion of the gaming audience.