Cloud Hosting Changes the Game

The billion dollar empire that is the gaming industry has hit a major breakthrough with cloud hosting rising to fame. Hosted on various virtual servers, gamers experience a new high with easier access and lower costs delivered by cloud hosting companies. With cloud gaming, data and applications are on the “cloud” or online without the need for multiple, expensive, high-maintenance, and trouble-prone physical servers or machines. Instead of purchasing high end computers with a large capacity to play the most in-demand games available, anyone can just sit and relax at home or anywhere they want with just their laptop, tablet or mobile phone to access their favorite video game or play with or against another person from the other corner of the world. An internet connection is merely what they need in order to stream the games thru their regular-performing computers. To simultaneously manage millions of players in any location playing the same game is only one of the most astonishing features of cloud gaming. Not only are these virtual servers able to withstand high traffic without crashing or any delay, cloud hosting providers could also deliver rich graphics that is key to attracting more players for an even bigger profit. These immense technogical requirements of the gaming industry fit perfectly with the services that cloud hosts could offer. Since players won’t need to go to the physical or online store to buy the software, chips or consoles, convenience is at the tip of their fingers with cloud gaming. It is definitely cheaper with an affordable monthly fee with no installation required or hours to wait for the usual downloading of files. Though console manufacturing companies have hit some dents, gamers and gaming companies obviously benefit from this economical technology instead of purchasing any hardware or building the needed infrastructure. Just recently, Sony has joined the bandwagon of cloud gaming to further their brand and reach more gamers around the world. Sony has acquired GaiKai, a cloud gaming provider on different platforms for a whopping $380 million. This move by the makers of the popular Playstation could be perceived as a contingency plan to up their sales by investing in cheaper gaming services. This may also be a consequence of having lower sales in their console products since more consumers are preferring online-based games due to their convenience, flexibility and affordability. The emergence of these cloud gaming service providers in the scene provides gaming companies the chip to power what they need in order to boost their business. One of the most common features available today is having unlimited virtual servers which allows gaming companies to expand their offerings while providing stability in their operations. Scalability options have also been an enticing feature of rising cloud computing service providers since it provides the necessary flexibility. Online gaming or cloud gaming often experiences heavy load, which is why, these scale up or down options come in handy whenever they need to upgrade or downgrade their resources such as in the number of servers in order to handle an upsurge in access or load. A lot of these cloud hosting providers in the market offer a traditional fixed price whether customers use a little or big amount of resources in their operations. However, customers have another better option in sight with a number of cloud hosting providers offering flexible terms depending on the resources used such as memory, disk space and virtual CPU. If you are starting your own gaming company, you need to conduct more research on which cloud hosting provider could be more beneficial to your end. Some cloud hosting services offer monthly fees for a certain period with no charges for initial set-up. But if you don’t want to be tied to a long-term commitment, you can look for companies offering services paid by the hour for more room to move. For gaming company masterminds, mobility is definitely a plus factor when managing their growing business on the cloud. With this in mind, it is important to choose a cloud hosting provider that allows you to access and control every facet of your cloud gaming business anytime and anywhere you may be. This type of convenience is often a top priority for small to medium sized gaming businesses dreaming of growing their empire around the world. Since travel is inevitable in their business, being able to make decisions and implement changes on their laptops or phones are essential in selecting a cloud hosting provider. These evolving offerings only make the future of cloud hosting even brighter by having more visibility and power in the gaming industry.

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Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.   About the Guest Author: Rodolfo Lentejas, Jr. is a fulltime freelance writer based in Toronto. He is the founder of the PostSckrippt, a growing online writing business dedicated to producing top quality, original and fresh content. To know more about him, please visit www.postsckrippt.ca. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.