While some game streaming technologies are free to try, others require a credit card, making them less desirable if you’re just looking to dip your toe in the water. Alongside the big names is a gallery of startups that claim to have their own proprietary tech.
The current cloud gaming marketplace is populated by recognizable gaming brands like Steam, Nvidia, and Sony. (Some of them are free!) If you’d prefer to stream games that you don’t already own, a few companies already have Netflix-like catalogs of games you can stream before Google Stadia arrives on the scene. If you’re interested in streaming your own desktop PC games to your PC, Mac, phone, tablet, or console, you can try one of a variety of cloud gaming and in-home streaming options today. But it’s hardly the first cloud gaming platform to debut. Google’s recent announcement of its Stadia game service has thrust this idea back into the spotlight, and when it launches later this year, it might be an interesting option for both newcomers and seasoned gamers who are curious about streaming games over the internet.
That is, if you have a good internet connection. By removing the need to own a PC or console to play the latest, most demanding blockbuster games, the medium as a whole could become more accessible. Streaming games from remote internet servers could be the future of the video game industry - or part of that future, anyhow.
