game design

Cloud gaming will change how people watch games.

2021-06-09 by Takashi Fujii Leave a Comment

During the pandemic, I started playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the third time, only this time it is for my daughters to watch. They can not fight enemies or solve puzzles on their own, but love watching me battle, ordering me to go here and there and laugh when I fail (many times, of course).

Cloud gaming impact on game viewing

Watching others play right next to you is as entertaining as playing by yourself. Like a sports game the outcome is unpredictable each time. Like watching your friends or kids play sports, the experience is intimate. The communication triggered by the games are also an essential part of game viewing.

The arrival of online game streaming has enriched game viewing further. There are videos for almost every aspect of the game, such as tutorials, walkthroughs and clear time attacks. Communication tied with the games has expanded to strangers with the same interests all over the world.

Cloud gaming may be considered as a way to stream games. But it also has the potential to change game viewing, enabling developers to deliver unique gaming and viewing experiences in real time. It also may diversify creation and delivery of gameplay videos, affecting the business landscape of video game streaming and esports.

Developers cannot directly interact with viewers

Currently game streaming is divided into two parts: developers providing games, and players (with streaming platforms) providing game play videos. Developers and viewers are connected indirectly with game streamers as the middleman, as the diagram below shows.

This has created huge revenue for both game streamers and game streaming platforms, since they control the content creation and distribution. From developers’ standpoint though, they can only watch streamers and viewers interact with videos generated by their own games.

Streaming the game and gameplay videos simultaneously

Cloud gaming will enable developers to stream the game AND game play videos at the same time, as illustrated in the diagram below.

Developers will be able stream their titles’ game play videos on their own. Streaming videos like what we see today is only the first step. Developers can create their own viewing experiences tailored towards their games. New entertainment products and services may emerge, combining playing and watching videogames in real time.

These new entertainment services will also prompt new business models. Because they are likely to cross the boundaries of gaming, video streaming, and social media, there is no need to stick with game industry traditions. They may not even need to sell titles and items to players, by charging viewers or advertisers instead.

Customizing viewers’ screen

There are, broadly, three ways to create unique viewing experiences. One is to personalize the screen for viewers. Today, viewers watch the same screen as the streamer. But with cloud gaming, viewers can watch customized screens as the players play with their own screens, because it is the developer who streams the video, not the players.

Customized screens for viewers will differ by the type of games. For instance, viewers may see an overall view while players battle with first person view. They may see additional information such as dark vision which players cannot see. They can communicate with each other with screens suitable for communication, which players may not need.

Watching a game from a different angle than the player is new. We have always watched the game from behind the players, but now there are chances to watch the game much closer and quite differently from the player. Am I the only one who sees opportunities?

Customizing viewers’ communication.

Different types of games deserve different kinds of communication. But game streaming platforms provide only a fraction of what can be exchanged among viewers, because they support various titles. Designing communication suitable for each game is the second way to develop unique viewing experiences.

For Animal Crossing text, sound and images might work for viewers to comment and advise each other. For FIFA, text and video works better for viewers to clip goal scenes and discuss with each other. Different ways of communication require different interfaces, which is difficult to provide for Twitch or Youtube.

Communication around games has always been at the core of gaming experiences, and cloud gaming will add another dimension. Developers can provide communication tools customized for their games, without depending on social platforms. This can be a huge differentiator among competitors and a driving force for sustainable revenue.

Viewers’ participation.

The third way to create different viewing experiences is viewer participation. A brilliant example is Stadia’s Crowd play, where viewers of a particular live stream can request to participate in the game being played.

The demo featured a viewer joining a live NBA 2K stream as one of the players, but viewers do not necessarily have to play the same way as the streamer. Viewers can create maps and allocate enemies for RPGs. They can create stages for puzzles. They can be the judge or scorer for a sports game. These are all familiar, but combining these sorts of plays in one place and providing them in real time, is the true value of cloud gaming.

From viewing to participation

As I am halfway through playing Zelda, my daughters are beginning to grab my controller. They are still scared of battles, but started playing the easy parts like cooking, hunting and exploring towns. Well, I guess everybody likes to take control!

With cloud gaming, developers will be able to create unique viewing experiences. This may lead to new business models, as monetization towards viewers becomes possible. It may also change the power balance between developers, game streamers and game streaming platforms as we see today.

This is not to say that game streaming platforms will lose ground. Rather, they are likely to remain as the destination for most titles’ game viewing. But viewers will have more options, and it is up to the developers to provide them.

As always, you are welcome to comment via Twitter. Thank you for reading!

Asymmetric game design for cloud gaming(1)

2021-05-03 by Takashi Fujii Leave a Comment

In 1996 Pokémon Red and Blue introduced an interesting way to use Game Boy cables. While most titles back then used cables for competing with others, Pokemon let players exchange characters. This feature added a new way of collecting Pokemons and filling the Pokedex, one of the game’s goals. It encouraged players to communicate with each other, negotiating which Pokemon they want and to trade.

Exchanging Pokemons via GameBoy cable.
Source: The Pokemon Company Official Website

Most of the discussion with cloud gaming seems to focus on how to stream existing titles. But if we can develop fresh new gaming experiences that can only be done with cloud technology, the gaming industry may enter a new generation, creating growth opportunities for game publishers and developers.

Gaming experiences are different between devices

Entertainment streaming services usually provide the same experiences across devices, whether it is a video or music. The content is the same among devices, letting users enjoy continuously. The action required is the same, where users push the play button for any device.

It is tempting to think that cloud games will follow the same path, but games are interactive. Each time you play you experience different stories, results and emotions. When you play with different types of physical interfaces such as controllers and touch screens, the experiences are also different. The player’s experience is unique every time, for every device.

Cloud gaming can bring diverse experiences together. As a result, game markets separated by smartphones, consoles and PCs may combine, and bring further growth to the industry. But in order to do this, we need to create cloud native gaming experiences. The keyword is asymmetric game design.

Combining controller games and touch display games

In a board game called Scotland Yard, one player runs away as Mr X, while others up to 5 team up as police to catch him. Mr X and the police have different goals, information and tools to play within a single game. The game is asymmetric.

With cloud gaming, game developers can craft different types of experiences between devices within a single game. Players with controllers may compete or cooperate with each other, while players with touch displays might locate or hide items and enemies real time. The game inevitably becomes asymmetric, if you design a unique cloud native experience like this.

Asymmetric game design is nothing new. Nintendo has claimed asymmetric game play as one of the key factors for the Wii U in 2012. Games like Dead by Daylight provide asymmetrical multiplayer (4vs1).

Titles like Minecraft, PUBG and Fortnite partly combine players between devices, called cross platform. But while these titles let different platforms’ players join together, the experiences are exactly the same whether you are playing with a controller or a touchscreen.

Asymmetric game play will have a much bigger impact when applied across devices and platforms. Games for controllers and games for smartphones offer different kinds of experience, and these users never had a chance to play the same game together. Combining these players can create new experiences leading to new businesses for game developers.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a huge opportunity?

Creating a cloud native gaming experience

In 1996, the Game Boy was at the end of the hardware lifecycle. But Pokemon regenerated demand, by adapting new game design ideas using existing technologies.

Technology for streaming games already exists. The idea of asymmetrical game design is not new. Now it is the developers’ turn to create cloud native experiences, adapt suitable business models, and produce a new gaming market.

Cloud gaming needs a pioneer

2021-05-03 by Takashi Fujii Leave a Comment

Most of the discussions about game streaming focus on bringing existing products to streaming. Google’s Stadia announcement in March 2019 was mostly about bringing PC/console games like Assassin’s Creed, DOOM and NBA 2K to streaming. But game streaming has not gained momentum even during the pandemic, when many game companies have increased profits.

Cloud gaming provides growth opportunities for companies without a game platform or huge technical infrastructure. But we need to focus on creating new experiences, not bringing existing products and business models to streaming.

Cloud computing, not cloud gaming

Google’s approach is understandable if you look at the announcement as a technical demonstration, not a presentation towards wide audiences. They picked the most challenging technical issues to present how they can solve these problems better. They picked existing titles to let developers easily understand what they are capable of. The location of the announcement, which was at the Game Developers Conference, shows that their main target was developers, not gamers.

The same can be said for Amazon’s Luna and Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud gaming. They already have thousands of clients for their cloud computing services, and games are just one of them. Their motivation is to grow their cloud services, not creating a gaming service towards end users.

High FPS titles are not for cloud gaming

Some say cloud gaming will not come soon because of its technical difficulties. Building an infrastructure suitable for high FPS (frames per second) titles does take time, because you need both the high speed network and high computing data centers nearby.

But is cloud gaming only for computationally heavy titles? Should we wait until high speed networks and data centers spread all over the world?

Cloud gaming is not only for AAA titles. Rather, light weight games might grasp the opportunity earlier, because they don’t require high speed network and data centers. But to do this, they need to create new experiences, not bringing existing ones.

Cloud gaming does not have a pioneer, yet.

Game developers have relied heavily on game console manufacturers and platforms in creating new gaming experiences. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have done most of the work creating new experiences for console games, because they need to sell their hardwares. Game developers didn’t have to pioneer new experiences with Android and iOS too, becuase smartphones spread quickly with attractive features regardless of gaming.

But cloud gaming does not have a leader. Game console manufacturers won’t guide developers, and cloud service providers will not create new experiences. For the first time, game developers will have the power to pioneer a new gaming market no one has ever seen.

Doors are open to companies outside the game industry too. Entertainment brands such as Disney may create an interactive service blending games, movies, animations, theme parks and shops. Social communication services such as Snapchat, which already have games, might combine controller native games with their mobile experiences.

In any case, the focus is on creating new experiences, not bringing the old. Creative game design is a must, but surely there are many awesome game designers out there looking at these possibilities. All we need is the vision and courage to invest.