Ubisoft reckons cloud gaming will see a Netflix-like rise in users over next decade

Ubisoft has been an early proponent of cloud gaming, having worked with Google in the early days of Stadia, before pivoting to services like GeForce Now and Amazon Luna. Game streaming is still niche, but Ubisoft believes it will eventually take over the games industry. 

Ubisoft is in the process of acquiring the cloud streaming rights for Activision's games as part of Microsoft's efforts to get its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King approved. Now, while speaking with the Financial Times, Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot talked a bit about the publisher's expectations for the streaming market.

Guillemot likens game streaming to the rise of services like Netflix, pointing out that once Netflix announced plans to pivot to TV and film streaming over DVD rentals, they faced criticism and share prices fell. However, nowadays, Netflix is a powerhouse in Hollywood and has sparked other major entertainment companies to spin up their own streaming services.

According to Guillemot, the situation is “going to be the same with video games” but he adds that “it will take time”. Once it does take off though, Guillemot believes things will catch on “very quickly”. According to Ubisoft's estimates, the rise of game streaming should take place “in the next five to ten years”, with games being both produced and played in the cloud.

Nvidia has been pushing for cloud-oriented development for a while now through its Omniverse toolset. Recently, Intel also launched its own Developer Cloud.

Once Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard King gains approval in the UK, Microsoft will be able to close the deal and immediately after, the cloud gaming rights to Activision titles will be handed over to Ubisoft, giving the company free reign to sell sub-licenses, or put streamed versions of Activision titles on any streaming service it chooses. Naturally, Microsoft will get a license to bring these games to xCloud but companies like Nvidia and smaller providers like Boosteroid also stand to benefit.

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KitGuru Says: Ubisoft does have a stake in the cloud gaming market and that is set to grow within a few months' time. With that in mind, we would expect this positive outlook from the company. While I believe cloud gaming is a great supplemental way to access games, I find it hard to believe that core gamers will be willing to forgo their own hardware so soon in favour of a cloud-only approach. What do you all think? Will cloud gaming overtake traditional console or PC gaming in the next decade? 

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