Cloud game streaming is the pinnacle of a new frontier — players no longer need expensive hardware or dedicated devices to play premier games, which feature all the bells & whistles normally associated with devices such as a Playstation or an Xbox.
Recently, Facebook announced that it was jumping on the Cloud Gaming bandwagon with a new service, for now available in North America. On its blog Facebook details that it has already got over 200000 players on the new platform, & that the games can be played directly on the Facebook App, over the Internet or on an Android device.
It’s early days for Cloud game streaming, & Facebook admits that the games, at this point, are fairly modest. It specifically notes that it has not set the “bar” very high when it comes to the graphics & features. Instead, it promises that the new offering will improve over time.
Facebook Cloud gaming will feature adverts for the games directly on the Facebook App, & players will be able to dive right in & play after clicking on the advert. This method of advertising is much reminiscent of Farmville’s promotion mechanism, which made the game, at one time at least, the most played game on the planet (interestingly, Farmville on Facebook will shut down for good on 31st December 2020).
There are quite a few companies already in the Cloud gaming arena. These include GeForce Now, Microsoft, PlayStation Now, Google Stadia, Shadow & others. All these services are only available on subscription, but Facebook will offer all of its games free of charge.
Facebook has the advantage of a pre-existing platform & billions of monthly users when it comes to gaining players, but gamers are really fussy, so the quality of games on offer will be the deciding factor, even if they’re free.
For players to take advantage of Cloud streaming, they need a fast internet connection (at least 10Mbps, Google Stadia, however, recommends 40Mbps) & a device that supports 5G or at least 4G.
Facebook will not currently offer its new Cloud gaming service for iOS, so players will not be able to participate on an Apple device or in the Safari browser. In their blog Facebook says that Apple’s App Store rules are too stringent for them to successfully use.
Facebook’s Cloud games are mobile-only, with titles such as 3D racer Asphalt 9 & the idle role-playing game Mobile Legends: Adventure, & will be offered alongside their current HTML5 offering, which are relatively simple such as Hangman & Solitaire.
Facebook boasts around 380 million game players who, according to the FBr blog, play their HTML5 games regularly, so to expand these games with more complex offerings seems to make sense. Obviously, the aim is to retain Facebook users & prevent them taking up on one of the newer social networks available, it remains to be seen if they’ll be successful.
