The next generation of co-operative games powered by cloud-first design
Why and how co-op games will emerge as a cloud-native genre
Phase 1
With the release of Stadia, xCloud, Amazon's Luna and Facebook's service cloud gaming is now well on its way to becoming a reality but so far is only delivering a new way to access games. This in itself is not game changing and is still 'cloud 2.0'.
The next phase, 'cloud 3.0' will be driven by cloud native games where the experience is either required or significantly enhanced by being delivered on the cloud. We can see that the first innings of this will enhance discoverability and drive more paths to monetisation. Daniel Ahmad lays this out nicely in his thread:
Although the offer of cloud gaming will have some impact on expanding the audience for gamers, at least for the most part we have essentially reached the limits and the step change won't be anything like what smartphones and better phone internet has done to the industry. Aside from the promises of a streaming games without hardware, how can cloud gaming create real evolution in gaming? The answer lies in the other degree of expansion - at the level of player engagement.
Deepening connectivity
Player engagement has broadened overtime as games have become more sophisticated. We have come a long way from the only way of engaging with a game was to go to an arcade and play vs a friend or a local simple computer. Now you're able to hang out with friends in a game, watch other streamers play, get instant game content, even see live concert performances.
The ubiquity of smartphones with highspeed internet, livestreaming and the golden age of creator content tools are part of the same wave that is driving demand for games that enhance social experiences. We love watching our favourite creators make videos. We love reading thought leaders post their tweets and blogs. We love watching our streamers play games. The extent and modes that we can connect with individuals online is deepening.
So how does cloud gaming fit into this? I believe this trend in deepening connectivity will expand from around games to the game itself through the level of interactivity that is possible with cloud gaming.
Matthew Ball and Jacob Novak already have a super interesting post on cloud gaming, and posit the idea that the first genre created by cloud gaming will be Massive Interactive Live Events (MILES) where large simulated events with many participants will create new live experiences at differing levels of engagement.
Although these experiences are already present and will certainly become important parts of gaming experiences, I don't expect them to become the central pillar of a new genre or gaming experience. By definition they are massive events, and the value comes from doing them with many other people in a live setting. When you want to play a game obsessively, it should be fun regardless of whether you're part of the same experience as many people or not.
If we are to take the premises that eventually cloud gaming can:
Immediately allow anyone to interact with a game at any state (theirs or others)
Blur the line between viewer, player and streamer such that any participant can switch between each one
Realtime game rendering at scale
Then promising that viewers can jump in a game state with streamers is only touching the surface, and another mode of engagement on top of a game rather than a core aspect. The depth of interactivity should result in games that are able to change how the game is played because of the fact that other players can jump in at any time, or that the group you're playing with can engage at different levels or through different mediums, or the more creative you can get with what you're doing in the game will have a direct impact on how others play with you.
The next evolution
Every big platform shift that has occurred since the history of gaming has been characterised with new game genres that marry up what new technology can deliver with what new game experiences are now possible. The explosion of mobile games saw the rise of casual games like Candy Crush and midcore multiplayer games like Clash of Clans. The most popular PC and console games over the last decade have been complex competitive games (League of Legends, Fortnite) as well as expansive user generated content and sandbox games (Roblox, Minecraft). Bringing this all together, there are many proven fun game designs that evolve around multiplayer competitive gaming but there has yet come a game that is co-operative in its core game design and reached that level of scale.
Combining the strength of multiplayer, demand for social, proliferation of streaming and the potential of cloud gaming taking interactivity to the next level sets up the stage for co-op games to be a defining genre for cloud.
The most popular multiplayer co-op games can be broadly divided over MMORPGs (WoW), shooters (Destiny) and action RPGs (Monster Hunter, Warframe). Many of these are focused on sci-fi / fantasy themes and cater to a certain audience. The core loops broadly fall into partying up with a group, going on quests, killing monsters, collecting loot, level up, upgrade and repeat. There are also some standout games like Portal 2 which is an exceptionally well-made platform game, or RPG sandbox type games like Terraria and Stardew valley that cater to broader audiences. But all these games are still quite narrow in terms of how you can co-operate with other people.
I have no doubt there is going to be many surprising genres and new types of games that will emerge as we learn what's possible and most importantly, what makes a fun experience. But as games become as much as a social experience as the game itself, a new generation of co-op games could incorporate these innovations to create a truly new cloud native experience:
Dynamic party systems
With the ability to jump into a game without any friction, a cloud gaming environment could allow for outcomes that are only possible by getting many other people to join. This can create a social system that goes beyond partying up in-game and incorporates incentives to stream, create moments that pull in non-players that become part of defining the experience, and receive rewards based on the level of these interactions. Think about bringing the level of social hype that you see on Twitch chat or Discord but extending into the game itself.
New types of inputs and controls
Every game has to be shaped around how the platform its played on gets its input, whether its console controllers or mobile touchscreens. But with a game being delivered on the cloud, there could be many different possibilities for what counts as an input and how it effects the game. Crossplay across different devices is already becoming the goal for games today and truly cloud-native environment could extend this to any other device whether its VR related or game specific components.
Different levels of player engagement
With every game today you open the game and play it, the same way everyone else starts playing it. We have already started to see how Twitch can interact with games in a chaotic and unexpected ways, and this is start of changing what it means to be a player. There will be different types of players depending on the level of engagement and this will create opportunities for entirely new modes and outcomes. The co-op element will not only scale within the game, but encompass different types of newly defined players.
Massively complex environments
Being able to take away the heavy lifting of game rendering from local devices will result in games that aren't limited by technical specs to the same extent. It should be possible to then have realtime generation of highly complex environments that can react, change and be personalised to an extent not seen before. One of the limiting factors for co-op games is that by design the player experiences through the environment of the game which is completely dependent on how fast the developer can add new worlds. The kind of game environments that could be generated by cloud games could bring the extra challenge, sense of wonder and depth not previously possible.