Apple Has Considered Launching iGaming Cloud

Cloud-based gaming services make up the latest innovations when it comes to gaming. With brands like Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Google’s Stadia leading the way, immersive gaming is becoming a lot more accessible to people who may not have the latest hardware to support triple-A gaming titles. Through cloud-based gaming, all of the computing power is conducted only through the cloud and merely broadcasted onto a player’s display. This is a game-changer when it comes to how games are being developed and released to the mass public. Not to be outdone, tech giant Apple is also looking to get into the cloud-based gaming space with the launch of Apple Arcade.

In one of his “Power On” newsletters that were sent out last month, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman hinted that Apple is looking to launch a game streaming service that rivals Google’s Stadia and Nvidia’s GeForce Now. Of course, this is only a natural response to the trends that are evident in the gaming industry as a whole. The online gaming industry is rapidly becoming one of the most vibrant and active markets in the entire world.

In the United States alone, the online gaming industry is expected to reach total revenues as high as $4.8 billion in 2021.Industry leaders also believe that the projected market volume of the online gaming market in the States will be at around $6.3 billion by 2025. That makes it one of the most profitable industries, particularly in the world of consumer technology. This is why many tech-based companies are looking to manufacture and release product that are more centered around the gaming industry as a whole.

This is a trend that is consistent in many different parts of the world. For example, in Asia, there were an estimated 1.5 billion gamers stretching across the entire continent for 2021. With countries like China, Korea, and the Philippines that have heavy investments into the e-sports industry, it’s not all that hard to see why the online gaming market is thriving in these regions. It’s also the same for European countries as well. In fact, next to Asia, which has a massive online gaming market, Europe comes second with around 715 million gamers around the continent. Experts say that the online games market in Europe is projected to reach total revenues as high as $4.8 billion in 2021.

One of the main attributes of the rise of the online gambling industry is the sheer diversity and variance of the gaming options that are available to the mass market. Of course, there are casual gamers who are either fond of playing non-competitive titles on devices like their mobile phones, personal computers, or dedicated gaming consoles. Then, there are the more serious gamers who play on dedicated hardware that’s primed for competitive gameplay. Aside from that, there are also online gamers who use their gaming platforms to earn money. More specifically, there are crypto-mining games that are gaining massive popularity in the gaming market these days. This should come to no one’s surprise after the rise of the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. 

In connection with money-centered gaming, the online gambling industry is also an example of a thriving sub-genre within the larger market. Gambling has always been one of the most popular pastimes across different generations. The popularity of the industry has only been further amplified in the digital age with more varied gaming options and increased access to gaming-ready devices. To go back to the European market, a country like Finland is known to have a very healthy and active online gambling culture. Locals refer to their favorite online casinos as parhaat nettikasinot, and they house some of the most immersive online gambling platforms in the world. It’s estimated that around EUR 286 million was spent on online casinos in 2018. Since then, online gambling revenues have only increased as a result of the global pandemic that forced the closure of a number of traditional casinos all around the world.

That’s just one manifestation of the advantage that mobile- or console-based gaming has as a market. It’s an industry that thrives on the sheer accessibility of its hardware. Now, as more companies are making the need for dedicated hardware obsolete through cloud-based gaming technology, it would be fair to reason that the industry is only going to thrive even further. After all, many avid gamers all over the world lack access to high-end gaming hardware with the increasing demand worldwide. With cloud-based gaming technology from companies like Google, Apple, and NVidia, it stands to reason that the hardware barrier for immersive gaming will be further diminished.