The “death of TV” has long been predicted, and peak multi-device/mobile OTT streaming may finally ring the death knell for standard TV. While it may not be as dramatic as that, the last few years have proven that nothing is predictable. As people have shifted toward a 100% digital life during the pandemic, streaming media boomed, and millions of consumers have cut the cord (less than 50% of content consumed in the UK is via traditional TV, as of 2021) and demanded content served to them in higher quality, on any device, anywhere, at any time they want. For telcos in particular, adapting on the fly to support these new and changing conditions has required rethinking content delivery. 

There are a lot of ways to look at “cloud gaming” because much of gaming today doesn’t happen without an assist from cloud technology. For the purpose at hand, though, we’re going to define cloud gaming as gaming that mirrors the same way you currently play games… only you don’t need to download a game, buy a physical copy, or use a device (PC, console or phone). Instead, you just need a screen and access to reliable, high-speed internet connectivity. The trick to mass cloud gaming might just be in the proliferation of high-speed internet connections as a replacement for high-end gaming hardware. Until recently, this connectivity could be spotty and inconsistent at best, but this is changing with the widespread rollout of 5G.