Is cloud gaming the future for video games?

The Microsoft/Activision Blizzard deal has the industry talking about the importance of cloud gaming

An Xbox games console controller and a smartphone
(Image credit: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images)

The burgeoning cloud gaming industry could be the next big thing for video games. Tech companies have been increasingly offering ways to offer streaming services that could untether gamers from hardware like consoles and PCs. Still, cloud gaming has had its share of setbacks, as evidenced by Google shutting down its game streaming service Stadia earlier this year.

Debate over whether cloud gaming is the industry's future was sparked when the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority attempted to block Microsoft's $69 billion bid for Activision Blizzard over fears that the company could monopolize the market. Is a future where most people get their video games from the cloud near?

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Theara Coleman, The Week US

Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.