By Dr. Christopher Richard, MD & Chief Cloud Architect, G7 CR Technologies India Pvt Ltd
India is developing as one of the biggest gaming brands markets as the industry’s total market value is expected to reach the figure of $4 billion in the next couple of years. The sector has experienced nearly 38% per annum growth, which could be primarily attributed to technological improvements, especially cloud computing.
One of the most compelling reasons for a gaming brand to choose the cloud is that it can help them scale. With cloud computing, the brands pay only for what they use and access more powerful and faster resources than if they were bought in batches.
Here are some of the most critical reasons why gaming brands are looking to unleash cloud opportunities:
Faster — more frequent and less downtime with instant updates
One of the most obvious benefits of cloud gaming is that it allows for faster, more frequent updates. When playing on a console like Xbox One, certain things require a player to stop playing and wait for a new update before they can play again.
For example, suppose a player wants to play an older game on a gaming console after upgrading its operating system with an update. In that case, the individual must wait for the game developer to release an update supporting that older game before continuing the gameplay.
With cloud gaming in place, these interruptions become less frequent because developers don’t need to build new versions of their games or re-release them with each new OS version — they can do away with many types of updates by going straight into the cloud!
Scalable — handle traffic at peak times.
The main reason is that cloud services can handle peak demand better than on-premise. They’re able to scale up resources quickly and efficiently, meaning the gaming companies don’t have to worry about the servers hitting their limit during peak hours. This is especially important considering that many games are played at night when most people are home from work and out of school.
For example, if a game’s busiest time (say 8 pm) has 50 players playing at once with 20 active users per minute, the server will need 200 MBps of bandwidth per second.
An on-premise solution would require a costly server that a gaming brand needs to purchase upfront (that can cost a significant amount of money).
However, with cloud computing service providers like Microsoft Azure who offer pay-as-you-go pricing models based on usage rates per GB/TB per month/year, etc., it’s much easier for smaller gaming companies who don’t have hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars laying around in their budget!
Cheaper — move away from purchasing resources in batches.
Cloud costs are more predictable: Cloud hosting is typically a fixed monthly cost, which means you know exactly how much you’ll spend each month. This helps to reduce the risk of unexpected expenses and gives you greater visibility into your budget.
Cloud is cheaper in the long run: With cloud computing, it’s possible to pay less money over time than if you were buying resources in batches. This can be especially helpful for small businesses that can’t afford large upfront capital investments but still want to get started with cloud services sooner rather than later. Hence, this can be a perfect choice for gaming start-up brands.
Companies are choosing to cloud to scale with the demand
As a gaming company, there is a need to constantly balance the need for flexibility with the need to deliver a great experience. The cloud is a great way to meet both of these needs: it provides elasticity and scalability, allows a gaming company to scale up or down as needed, and allows the brand to focus on delivering an exceptional user experience rather than becoming overwhelmed by infrastructure challenges.
Conclusion
It is not surprising that gaming brands are turning to the cloud. It’s a natural fit for them because they have always been ahead of their time regarding technology. They have always been quick to embrace new ideas to stay ahead of their competitors, and now they are finding that using the cloud can help them do just that.
