New blog post! The promise of cloud-native games -> a new class of cloud games is emerging that will upend the entertainment experience as we know it and bring us closer to the Metaverse. How? a16z.com/2020/01/14/clo…
1/ Myth: cloud gaming will succeed by "killing the console," thus expanding the TAM for games (no hardware needed to play)
Truth: cloud-native games (software) exclusive to the platform will be cloud gaming's true killer app
Truth: cloud-native games (software) exclusive to the platform will be cloud gaming's true killer app
2/ Cloud-natives are games designed specifically for the cloud where client/server are hosted in the same architecture. These games will enable entirely new gameplay experiences and business models - changing not only how we play, but what. A few examples:
3/ Cloud games will have the best new user onboarding experience yet, via social features like shareable deep links for drop-in play (no more lobbies) and interactive live-streams for spectators. Result? The first true cloud-native MMO will grow virally, like a social network
4/ "Click to Play" will create a new class of influencers and video marketers. With no install / load times, users can click a link to immediately try a game. Creators will evolve from providing discovery today to community ("click to join") and direct commerce
5/ AI & machine learning in cloud games will enable real-time creation of characters, environment, and text - the next level of procedural generation. The next "choose your own adventure" may be a procedurally-generated virtual world that adapts to your choices in real-time
Wrap/ We should expect to see the first wave of cloud-native games hit the market in 2-3 years. While many technical and business challenges remain in the near-term, the long-term impact of cloud gaming will be huge. More detail in blog post!
cc @GoogleStadia @Xbox @awscloud @PlayStation @NvidiaGFN @TencentGames @Shadow_Official @RainwayApp @CloudVortexGG + many others!
