Game Streaming is Going Big

It’s not surprising that game streaming has followed in the footsteps of films, TV, and music and become increasingly popular. Nearly 50% of US households have a games console in close proximity to their TV, and, with the increase in people watching others play games, it could be that some of the long established sports may find that their audience is reduced in the future.

The Innovators

Some companies allow gamers to stream and play games on the go, such as NVIDIA and Steam via their respective streaming technologies while companies like Gaikai gives gamers the chance to play games without the need for a fast PC – though a quick broadband connection is required. Gaikai has come up with innovative technology, and its service was embedded inside Facebook back in 2012 leading to games that could be streamed to Facebook directly. In the same year, Gaikai games began to be streamed to Wikipad tablets.

Similar to GAIKAI, NVIDIA have also made it possible to have games streamed to your tablet or another remote system. NVIDIA GRID utilizes the companies GPU technologies to offer cloud-based 3D rendering, to stream games or other 3D applications to PCs or tablets. With a fast internet connection, Steam can enable games to be played anywhere in the family home, by way of in-home streaming. This is made possible through a high-end gaming PC being used as a conduit to other devices situated in the home.

Watching Others Play Games Is Increasing In Popularity

The recent purchase of the live video-game streaming site Twitch – by Amazon for nearly a billion dollars – shows just how popular watching others play video games has become. This is something that has really taken off, and with incredible speed, too.

A Booming Leisure Experience

In The 21st Century One of the most important factors in the popularity of game streaming is fibre optic broadband. With speed being of the essence concerning playing games, the faster the connection the better. Indeed, the things that are possible now, because of fast connections, would be bewildering to the internet user of just over a decade ago. Statistics in the autumn of 2013 showed that, for UK gamers, a PC or laptop only came third regarding devices used for gaming. Also, a PC or laptop only amounted to a quarter of all gaming traffic in total. Xbox was top (35%) of the pile, followed by Playstation (30%). While a tablet or phone tied with wii on 5%. The three most popular games were Call of Duty, then DOTA 2, with World of Warcraft in third place.