I want to invest in more gaming startups. Big tech has done a bad job & this is a huge market.
Let’s talk about cloud gaming. I’m a mac user so this is close to my ❤️.
We have: Google Stadia, Nvidia GeforceNow, Shadow, Apple Arcade & Amazon Luna.
But nothing is great.
1/ Stadia had potential but Google botched the launch & it’s now clearly heading for the inevitable sunset, following the path of many Google products before.
The tech works well but they never allowed gamers to play their existing games!
2/ GeforceNow is ok.
The library is missing key titles (even if you own the game) and even though I paid for premium, the connection would often lag vs the smooth experience on Stadia.
3/ Shadow is essentially a full PC in the cloud. It’s a similar result to setting up your own Paperspace instance.
But you’re on your own. You have to do OS & game updates, as well as handle compatibility issues. I doubt this is a mainstream solution.
4/ Apple Arcade — No real innovation here from Apple.
Arcade is a simple subscription with some exclusive titles that do not compare with the games available on PC.
Given Apple’s approach to payments, I don’t see those blockbuster titles coming to Arcade anytime soon.
5/ Luna — This one may survive by being part of Amazon’s sprawling prime bundle.
Amazon has shown a willingness to stick with products than most of Big Tech but Luna still suffers from most of the problems you’ll find on Stadia and GeForceNOW.
There’s tons of problems in gaming, so if you’re working on something in this space, I’d love to chat: ash@sterlingroad.com
