- The tech giants, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon are expected to make a push into creating a cloud streaming service for games
- Detailed plans are expected to be unveiled at the upcoming Game Developers Conference in San Francisco March 18-22, 2019
The tech giants are looking at transforming the gaming space by creating a “Netflix for videogames”. Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon are each reportedly working on their own versions of a subscription service for video games.
The companies are contemplating moving video games onto the cloud, which could eliminate the expensive hardware (Playstation and Xbox) needed to play. Instead, games would be accessible on any device, not just specific ones created for gaming.
In order to accomplish this plan, however, the tech giants will need to license content and games from existing developers like Activision and EA. The only issue is that, as it stands, the existing video game publishers have no incentive to change the industry practice.
We will have to wait and see how the most powerful companies in the world divide the terms and incentives with video game publishers.
Below are plans that have been reported from each tech giant
- Google is planning to unveil its videogame service at the Game Developer’s Conference next month in San Francisco, Fortune reports. The search giant is reportedly spending heavily to get game publishers to license their content.
- Apple is looking to build a service that allows users who pay a subscription fee to access a bundled list of titles, Cheddar reported in January. Apple could choose to use a March 25 event, where it is expected to introduce news and video subscriptions, to also debut a game subscription offering.
- Microsoft’s service could let users play high-end video games anytime on any device, not just Microsoft’s own Xbox console, Business Insider reported in January.
- Amazon is building a subscription streaming service for games, The Information reports. Like Google, it’s also reportedly in talks with game publishers.
Article by: Mick Ross
Mick is currently a full-time investor and formerly a buy-side analyst (2yrs) covering healthcare companies. Before that, he was a salesperson at a bulge-bracket firm, based in Dallas, Texas. Mick blogs to clarify and synthesize his investment thought process and to elicit feedback; additionally he likes to connect with other investors and swap ideas.