Every day we keep hearing news about 5G, a technology that has caused a trade crisis between the two global superpowers, and Cloud Gaming. Both are being sold as future technologies in their respective fields, but it is the combination of the two that can bring about profound changes both in the way of consumption and in the distribution of content.
A quick overview of 5G technology
5G is a standard for sending information via radio waves transmitted in the air. Which is characterized by sending said waves at frequencies of 28 GHz, which contrasts with the 2.5 GHz of its predecessor, the 4G. Considering the small size of the waves, due to their higher frequency, this allows the number of devices available per square km to become 1 million.
Keep in mind that in the near future, many computer models will bring 5G connectivity with them, to be good enough to replace WiFi connectivity for specific tasks. 5G will prevent tens of millions of computers around the world from being connected through the classic WiFi router we all have in our homes to do so directly to the 5G network.
But the key is latency, which goes from 50ms to 10ms, which is essential for Cloud Gaming as it is one of the limiting factors for an optimal experience.
Cloud Gaming and 5G
Cloud Gaming, as you may know, involves rendering the game on a remote server, which sends us as a compressed video to the device we are using. 4G with a latency of 50ms has made the deployment of Cloud Gaming totally impractical on mobile phones and tablets not connected to a Wi-Fi network.
With 5G, this problem disappears, which means platforms like Google Stadia, Microsoft XCloud, SONY PlayStation NOW, and NVIDIA GeForce Now will be able to expand their user quota, especially among those who want a platform to play on. It doesn’t matter where and the Nintendo Switch, the only console on the market, does not convince them in its catalog.
It is possible that let’s see a new type of device, which will remind us of portable consoles, but no own storage memory and no slot to put games. Totally depends on our 5G connectivity and payment to content providers.
Can this negatively affect PC gaming?
Many people ignore the truth of pc gaming For years, most development studios and publishers have done console conversions that cost them some of the original production by being able to reuse the hardware they made the console version with.
In some specific cases, AMD and NVIDIA “promote” certain games and want the games to come out on PCs because this fuels the sale of graphics cards. In other words, these are the means that allow us to play our favorite games and without these games there would be no reason to buy them for the majority of the public.
Now alright if Cloud Gaming under 5G is standardized, then the number of people who will buy a graphics card to play your favorite games will decrease. Sales of AMD, NVIDIA and Intel will end in data centers of content providers and demand for this component in PCs will be low enough to push up graphics card prices even higher than they already are. .
