Thematic Intelligence: Cloud Gaming

Thematic Intelligence: Cloud Gaming


Summary

Cloud gaming will disrupt the video games industry, just as video and audio streaming changed the music, film, and TV industries. Its ease of use and flexibility will transform how games are distributed, consumed, and monetized.

Key Highlights
  • Cloud gaming’s success depends on the availability of reliable, fast networks, large game libraries, and competitive pricing. Some companies will use ad or usage-based plans to attract casual users. However, data privacy and copyright issues must be addressed if cloud gaming is to flourish.
  • The cloud gaming market will be worth over $22 billion in 2030, according to GlobalData estimates, up from $3 billion in 2023. No cloud gaming service has achieved mainstream success yet, with just 6% of gamers globally subscribing to cloud gaming services in 2023.
Scope
  • This report provides an overview of the cloud gaming theme.
  • It identifies the key trends impacting the theme's growth over the next 12 to 24 months, split into three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends.
  • It includes a comprehensive industry analysis, including forecasts for cloud gaming revenues to 2030.
  • The detailed value chain comprises four layers: a content layer, a service layer, a connectivity layer, and a device layer.
Reasons to Buy
  • It is still early days for cloud gaming, but the market is attracting investments from tech giants (e.g., Microsoft, Nvidia) and telcos (e.g., Swisscom, China Mobile). Game publishers like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are partnering with service providers to strengthen their position in this market. Tencent, Valve, and Netflix also plan to enter the market in the next two years. This report is an invaluable guide to this theme, including analysis of the leading players and forecasts for market growth.


Executive Summary
Players
Technology Briefing
What is cloud gaming?
How does cloud gaming work?
Cloud gaming will be extremely disruptive
The future of cloud gaming
Trends
Technology trends
Macroeconomic trends
Regulatory trends
Industry Analysis
Market size and growth forecasts
Timeline
Signals
M&A trends
Patent trends
Company filing trends
Hiring trends
Value Chain
Content layer
Game developers and publishers
Service layer
Cloud gaming providers
Cloud services
Connectivity layer
Content delivery networks
Telecom networks
Device layer
Companies
Sector Scorecard
Gaming sector scorecard
Who’s who
Thematic screen
Valuation screen
Risk screen
Glossary
Further Reading
GlobalData reports
Our Thematic Research Methodology
About GlobalData
Contact Us
List of Tables
Table 1: Technology trends
Table 2: Macroeconomic trends
Table 3: Regulatory trends
Table 4: Key M&A transactions associated with the cloud gaming theme since January 2012
Table 5: Companies
Table 6: Glossary
Table 7: GlobalData reports
List of Figures
Figure 1: Who are the leading players in the cloud gaming theme, and where do they sit in the value chain?
Figure 2: Conventional gaming versus cloud gaming
Figure 3: There are two approaches to cloud gaming
Figure 4: Cloud gaming will generate $22 billion in revenue by 2030
Figure 5: With 687 million subscribers, cloud gaming will represent 17% of global unique gamers by 2030
Figure 6: The cloud gaming story
Figure 7: Cloud gaming-related patenting activity has grown rapidly since 2019
Figure 8: Figure 9: Asian technology companies lead in cloud gaming-related patent publications
Figure 10: Figure 11: Mentions of cloud gaming across all sectors peaked in 2022 but dropped in 2023
Figure 12: Figure 13: Cloud gaming-related hiring grew steadily between Q3 2019 and Q4 2022
Figure 14: The US has the most cloud gaming-related jobs
Figure 15: The cloud gaming value chain
Figure 16: The cloud gaming value chain - Content layer: Leaders and challengers
Figure 17: The cloud gaming value chain - Service layer: Leaders and challengers
Figure 18: The cloud gaming value chain = Connectivity layer: Leaders and challengers
Figure 19: The cloud gaming value chain - Device layer: Leaders and challengers
Figure 20: Who does what in the gaming space?
Figure 21: Thematic screen
Figure 22: Valuation screen
Figure 23: Risk screen
Figure 24: Our five-step approach for generating a sector scorecard

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