Crytek, the developer of Crysis, believes that streaming game services like OnLive will not be economically feasible until at least 2013. Among the challenges is finding enough bandwidth for a video renderer. Crytek has been researching the technology since 2005, but concluded their study in 2007. CEO Cevat Yerli explains:
"It doesn't take a lot to make a video-based renderer, but what you need is the right infrastructure that is beyond the technology we have, it's more like cable net providers and communication networks. They have to provide fast bandwidths and connectivity in order to allow such technology to excel. So as it was dependent on somebody else, we decided to wait."
Raymond mentioned four challenges for OnLive, but I definitely feel that the biggest limiting factor is bandwidth. I also think multiplayer gaming with this service will impossible. I can barely get a lag-free game of anything with my DSL... I don't know how I would stream the game's video to a display with no lag and then deal with multiplayer networking on top of that.
Electronic Arts is a publishing partner with OnLive and has been showing off Crysis: Warhead with the service, but Crytek has no direct involvement with the product. Yerli said, "We just allowed Crysis to be tested on it. It will be interesting to see how it happens under millions of users. Let's say more than a few hundred users, how it will behave."
"We saw that by 2013 - 2015 with the development of bandwidths and household connections worldwide that it might become more viable then," Yerli continues.
Crytek joins Sony, Nintendo, and others in doubting services like OnLive.
Comments are Closed
Comments