The city of Sheffield has made a very real effort to encourage and cultivate gaming culture in the area and the United Kingdom. From its eSports bar on the boardwalk to the impressive National Videogame Museum, Sheffield knows the appeal and power of gaming.
The National Videogame Museum, as you can see here, invites game enthusiasts to visit and play a huge range of titles from the past and present, as well and teach visitors about the culture of gaming. The museum also delves into what’s to come for the gaming industry, and what’s to come looks set to be drastically different from what is already showcased within the venue.
By the start of 2020, the gaming industry in the UK could begin to move away from the tried and trusted routes of video gaming and into the exciting world of high-speed online game streaming.
5G set to take root in Sheffield
There has been a lot of hype surrounding 5G with many people very excited about the potential that it brings. While it is going to take a fair bit of time to roll out across the UK via the leading companies, two of the top brands, as are shown in the table here, will make 5G available in Sheffield by the end of 2019.
At the base level, the faster speeds, and greatly reduced latency from 4G, will be very appealing to console video gamers and movie streamers, but it will mean even more to those looking to get Google Stadia. The first fully operations video game streaming platform looked set to encounter problems in parts of the UK due to internet speeds, but with 5G, Google Stadia’s gaming for everyone approach can be fully realised.
“Building a game platform for everyone”
Naturally, one of the primary goals of a newcomer to the expansive video game market is to be as appealing as possible. Google Stadia is looking to achieve this feat by eradicating the need to use a video game console and, instead, offering a service that allows players to stream in games. As stated in this interview here, the goal was to build “a game platform for everyone,” and as people don’t need to spend hundreds of pounds on a new console to use Google Stadia, the plan certainly opens itself up to a wider audience.
Google Stadia is continuing with a trend seen across other forms of gaming in which developers and platforms want to open themselves up to as many new players as possible and not just appease their existing audience. The rise of mobile gaming has been as a direct result of the freemium model, where games are free to download and offer in-app purchases, and iGaming has risen through specifically making itself appealing to newcomers. As can be seen by the welcome offers listed at the ultimate source here, websites offer free games and bonus funds to new gamers as well as bonuses that don’t require a deposit to unlock.
By making entering into the world of gaming easier to do and more appealing either through reduced upfront costs or additional perks, these platforms are greatly increasing their potential audience sizes. With the help of 5G, Google Stadia looks to change how we game in Sheffield, greatly cutting the start-up costs and granting easier access to the entertainment medium.
