Electronic Arts Tease Cloud Gaming Trial
Electronic Arts have announced that they are ready to start testing their cloud gaming system, which forms part of their future platform Project Atlas. Project Atlas aims to offer game streaming services via the cloud to consumers and additionally enables developers to build and release games directly onto the cloud. EA announced that the first public test of Project Atlas would involve PC systems, and specifically, the titles FIFA, Need For Speed Rivals, Unravel, and Titanfall 2.
EA’s cloud gaming service seeks to utilize AWS to deploy their services as close to the gamer as possible. Chief Technology Officer for EA Ken Moss noted that the trial was developed to stress test the system using a wide array of connection speeds and server routing scenarios. While the analysis focuses on the PC system, EA also has games released for multiple consoles, and it is expected that cloud gaming testing for these systems will follow shortly.
Dealing With The Problems of Cloud Gaming
As with all streaming services, latency is a serious issue to consider. With gaming, high latency could be a damning factor towards whether users decide to use the service or not. EA’s test hopes to develop the capabilities of launching games for users across the globe using the ubiquitousness of the cloud to deliver lower latency gameplay. Additionally, the system should be able to scale up to support multiple users and multiplayer scenarios.
One of the critical points of discussion was the potential for cross-play, as PC gamers have long since wanted to be able to tackle players using other consoles head to head. Cloud gaming offers promise for realizing this potential. Cloud gaming is an essential innovation towards helping users enjoy games regardless of which platform they intend to play on. Additionally, thanks to cloud saving, users can potentially save progress on one device and have it updated on any other device attached to the same EA account. The trial utilizes EA’s game delivery system Origin, and the company intends to start testing very soon. Interested users may go to EA’s site to sign up for the trial.
