The Adoption of Cloud Computing in the Asian Gaming Industry
In 2011 there was a massive shift in the gaming industry in Southeast Asia. When high profile game developers in the region announced that they would use cloud computing extensively throughout their operations in the region, the landscape for other gaming companies in Southeast Asia changed dramatically. The main reason why companies started to adopt cloud technology for their operations was to achieve better scalability and provide a more reliable service at a lower cost. Interactive entertainment requires a significant investment in IT infrastructure and moving it to the cloud allows companies to save significantly while improving the services they provide at the same time.
Significant improvements in security and in legislation in Southeast Asia resulted in companies fully embracing the move. The main advantage of cloud computing platforms for gaming enterprises is an increase in business agility as well as significant savings across the board. Companies in the region have started to share their insights, leading many to speculate about the enormous potential of this technology in the Southeast Asian market.
The initial adoption
Online gaming providers were among the first gaming companies in Southeast Asia to embrace cloud computing. These kinds of companies have a very important presence in the region due to the enormous demand for MMORPGs (massive multi-player online role playing games) which have grown dramatically in recent years. Companies with licenses to provide popular Western games in the region have also used cloud computing to decrease costs.
Online gaming companies based in Singapore represent an important service hub in the region, providing their services to most of the surrounding countries. In fact, most of the major online games played in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia (and other countries too) are provided by companies based in Singapore. One of the main reasons for this is that Singapore’s advanced IT infrastructure, commercial environment, and legislation makes it particularly welcoming to these kinds of firms.
Cloud computing and online gaming providers
There are several ways in which online gaming providers have taken advantage of cloud computing to improve their services. Cloud computing is not only used to host game platforms and decrease IT costs. It has also been observed that cloud computing infrastructure plays an important role in all aspects of a companies’ daily operations, from managing accounts and payments to making sure that all users receive the services they have paid for. Cloud service providers with a presence in the Southeast Asian region will often participate in all aspects of the operation of online games, increasing productivity and growth.
Cloud computing providers allow companies to save enormously (up to sixty percent in operational IT expenses) thanks to the power of device virtualization. Data center costs for online gaming can be enormous and can be relieved significantly with the aid of these technologies. They also allow companies to have a more environmentally-friendly presence, decreasing companies’ carbon footprint and resource usage. In general, the main advantage is that gaming providers can focus more on the actual business of creating virtual worlds and entertaining new gaming concepts rather than on the daily business of managing data centers and accounts.
Evaluating the results
Has cloud computing usage been successful for companies who have jumped on board? By all measures, it appears to be so. Companies that adopted cloud computing early are now among the regional leaders, thanks to the significant savings the technology provides and the subsequent improvement to service. Virtualized environments provide scalability while allowing online gaming providers to avoid dealing with the complexity that this brings to the system.
Cloud service providers with a particular emphasis on providing their services to online gaming companies will find that the Asian market, particularly the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia, is especially receptive to these technologies. However, competition in the region is fierce, meaning that it will often be a question of innovating and finding ways to provide a unique service to these businesses that other cloud computing firms cannot match.
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About the Guest Author:
Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.
