Cloud Gaming Won't Take Off Until Companies Can Guarantee Your Library Will Be Protected
Sony just announced its new three-tiered PlayStation Plus system. At its most basic level, it’s PS Plus as we know it today. For a few dollars more, you get access to hundreds of PS4 and PS5 titles to download. The highest and most expensive tier unlocks PlayStation’s vast retro library. The catch is, while PS1 and PS2 games can be downloaded, PS3 games will have to be streamed via the cloud. Instead of improving its cloud gaming service, Sony has decided that countries that don’t have access to it will have to make do with a consolation top tier. How can companies be pushing for cloud gaming so hard while simultaneously doing nothing to increase consumer confidence in it?
A GamesIndustry.biz article came out a few weeks ago that said, ultimately, it will be consumers who decide how successful cloud gaming is. While Xbox Game Pass offering subscribers the ability to stream games rather than download them in order to save precious hard drive space is useful, Microsoft’s new push towards getting indie devs to make cloud-based games is worrying.
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As a consumer, you have no guarantees when it comes to a cloud game. Buying one is like buying a film on Amazon Prime. If you read the small print, it turns out you’re just leasing the film from Amazon until Bezos decides it isn’t worth the effort of hosting it anymore. Your digital film collection could vanish in an instant if Amazon goes bust or simply chooses to abandon the film and TV market. It’s unlikely, but it’s not impossible.
Just look at what happened to Google Stadia. The dozens of people who bought into it have been left in the lurch after Google reportedly decided to “deprioritise” it back in February.
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