The Gaming subscription service jungle is getting tougher as two tech giants Google and Apple raced to launch their own and explore the world’s gaming market with around 2 billion gamers worldwide.
Google and Apple’s Netflix-like gaming subscription service
A few weeks ago, Google announced its new venture in the form of Google Stadia, which they dubbed as the “future of gaming.” Google Stadia is a cloud-based gaming subscription service that can be used by any Google-supported device with a strong internet connection.
Users can run this service and stream game videos in 4K (and possibly 8K) resolution. It is seen as a game streaming platform that serves as an extension of watching video game live streams, according to Google’s Phil Harrison. It also does not require an expensive gaming
A few days after their announcement, another tech giant Apple launched its own gaming subscription service Apple Arcade. Unlike what most people think, its services do not directly rival Google Stadia. The new venture of Apple is reliant on user downloads and playable offline games that target control over the 300,000 free-to-play games on the app store.
Apple Arcades promises to offer 100 “premium games” that gamers play on all Apple devices with popular talents like Final Fantasy Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ken Wong, and Will Wright. Aside from them, Apple also cited several more companies it plans to partner with in the premium service. Names of Konami, LEGO, Cartoon Network, Finji, SEGA, Annapurna Interactive and Bossa Studios have been dropped.
Google and Apple are entering the Netflix-like gaming subscription jungle, rivalling Microsoft’s Xbox Games Pass and Sony’s PlayStation. This step is seen as an opportunity to tap into the market of gamers and potentials users to engage in gaming or streaming without buying the pricey equipment.
Will Google Stadia and Apple Arcade replace console games?
Play-anywhere subscription services may soon replace the game consoles or game discs but it’s still too early to tell. After all, Xbox and PlayStation continue to innovate their services too. Both services store their game data on Cloud for progress and both still maintain the stationary use of their devices that maintain exclusivity in their users.
If anything, Google and Apple are focusing on gaming subscriptions to encourage the public to get into mobile gaming. Xbox and PlayStation don’t necessarily mirror this virtue since they maintain the exclusive community of their users with the best video game offerings in the market. Unless Google and Apple can immediately top that, converting console users to mobile gaming will be a long shot.
