How much will a subscription to Google Stadia cost?
The press is wondering how much Google Stadia cloud gaming service will cost. The Wired edition assumes a price of 10-15 pounds ($ 13-20) by analogy with the cost of Netflix, and in this article the CEO and founder of the cloud-based gaming platform Playkey Egor Guryev will analyze how realistic this scenario is. Give him the word.
For many years we have been working in the field of cloud games and we are well aware of all the pricing of this business. From the point of view of mathematics, everything is quite simple: there is a cost price of the game slot, there is a clear percentage for leasing. This is how the model looks like:
nb: utilization of 50% of game time is a necessary measure for any project in the cloud gaming. "Retake" the night hours of European servers idle for players in the United States will not work, because they will have too high ping.
')
With this model, the cost of a subscription in the region of $ 15 / month. allows only to beat off the cost of gaming iron "to zero." This will not work to accommodate the payroll, or the cost of attracting customers, and even more so - no deductions to game publishers. That is, in theory, such a model is possible at the start as a promotional campaign of the project, but it definitely does not look like a healthy business.
True, there is an important “but”: this calculation is valid for many, but not for Google. They play by their rules and can create exclusive conditions for themselves: at the cost of hardware for servers, at the cost of their content, or at the price of attracting users.
Yes, in the end, Google can earn not on the cost of playing time, but on advertising or user data.
Will games be included in the subscription?
Business models of cloud gaming, in which top new games are already included in the subscription price, have never been. And if Google will be able to implement this and agree with the right holders, they will be an absolute innovator.
Do I believe in such a scenario? Definitely not. Unlike the movie, the passage of games can drag on for weeks and months, and no one dares to release a novelty “in subscription” with other titles. Therefore, I do not think that the model, even in the long run, will repeat the format of films, when the output of the digital version can be delayed only 2-3 months after the premiere.
The logic of holders is simple: they have expected sales, and they will fight to the last, so that these expectations are met. In the case of work on the subscription model, I see only the opportunity for the site to pay a fixed (obviously huge) royalties to the copyright holder, so that he would put the top title on a per-minute basis on the launch day.
Right holders are well aware that not many players go through the titles to the end. This can be seen even on acham on Steam: “final” achivki receive only conditional 10-20% of players. With per minute rent, these 10% will be the only ones who will pay the entire cost of the game (or even overpay).
What are the chances of the other players?
I’m sure that no matter how perfect Google’s solution is, users will always glance in the direction of competitors and their chips. It’s still easier with Russia: in our market, the politics of IT giants like Yandex and Mail.ru are such that they will not allow Google to seize the cloud gaming market without any problems. Probably, they will either create their services from scratch, or buy someone from the current players, and Google will only help them pump knowledge about such an opportunity among the players - play in the cloud. Such a service as cloud games requires serious localization: in Russia, the server will have to be installed not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but throughout the whole country. This level of coverage will require hyperlocalization, and it is easier to get it with a ready-made cloud infrastructure - which, of course, Mail.ru and Yandex already have.
What other solution is possible? It seems to me that the owners and publishers themselves will try to repel Google. And they will either start creating their own cloud-based platforms, or use SaaS solutions. So that on their servers, in the regions they need, to invite players to play in the cloud, but on their own terms. And in such a B2B model, let the SaaS provider ensure the quality of service. We are also looking in this direction, and recently presented our B2B project - just aimed at publishers and game developers who would not like to create their own software for cloud games, but who are interested in the SaaS model.
For many years we have been working in the field of cloud games and we are well aware of all the pricing of this business. From the point of view of mathematics, everything is quite simple: there is a cost price of the game slot, there is a clear percentage for leasing. This is how the model looks like:
| The cost of the game slot: | $ 3,000 (GTX 1080ti + memory + dedicated CPU cores) |
| Leasing cost: | 15% per annum |
| Lease term: | 3 years |
| The cost of "iron" in view of leasing: | about 104 $ per month |
| The cost of placing a game slot in the data center: | $ 60 per month |
| Disposal of playing time: | about 50% (360 hours per month) |
| Cost of play hours: | $ 0.45 |
| Total cost: | $ 160 per month for one slot (enough for about 10 users) |
nb: utilization of 50% of game time is a necessary measure for any project in the cloud gaming. "Retake" the night hours of European servers idle for players in the United States will not work, because they will have too high ping.
')
With this model, the cost of a subscription in the region of $ 15 / month. allows only to beat off the cost of gaming iron "to zero." This will not work to accommodate the payroll, or the cost of attracting customers, and even more so - no deductions to game publishers. That is, in theory, such a model is possible at the start as a promotional campaign of the project, but it definitely does not look like a healthy business.
True, there is an important “but”: this calculation is valid for many, but not for Google. They play by their rules and can create exclusive conditions for themselves: at the cost of hardware for servers, at the cost of their content, or at the price of attracting users.
Yes, in the end, Google can earn not on the cost of playing time, but on advertising or user data.
Will games be included in the subscription?
Business models of cloud gaming, in which top new games are already included in the subscription price, have never been. And if Google will be able to implement this and agree with the right holders, they will be an absolute innovator.
Do I believe in such a scenario? Definitely not. Unlike the movie, the passage of games can drag on for weeks and months, and no one dares to release a novelty “in subscription” with other titles. Therefore, I do not think that the model, even in the long run, will repeat the format of films, when the output of the digital version can be delayed only 2-3 months after the premiere.
The logic of holders is simple: they have expected sales, and they will fight to the last, so that these expectations are met. In the case of work on the subscription model, I see only the opportunity for the site to pay a fixed (obviously huge) royalties to the copyright holder, so that he would put the top title on a per-minute basis on the launch day.
Right holders are well aware that not many players go through the titles to the end. This can be seen even on acham on Steam: “final” achivki receive only conditional 10-20% of players. With per minute rent, these 10% will be the only ones who will pay the entire cost of the game (or even overpay).
What are the chances of the other players?
I’m sure that no matter how perfect Google’s solution is, users will always glance in the direction of competitors and their chips. It’s still easier with Russia: in our market, the politics of IT giants like Yandex and Mail.ru are such that they will not allow Google to seize the cloud gaming market without any problems. Probably, they will either create their services from scratch, or buy someone from the current players, and Google will only help them pump knowledge about such an opportunity among the players - play in the cloud. Such a service as cloud games requires serious localization: in Russia, the server will have to be installed not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but throughout the whole country. This level of coverage will require hyperlocalization, and it is easier to get it with a ready-made cloud infrastructure - which, of course, Mail.ru and Yandex already have.
What other solution is possible? It seems to me that the owners and publishers themselves will try to repel Google. And they will either start creating their own cloud-based platforms, or use SaaS solutions. So that on their servers, in the regions they need, to invite players to play in the cloud, but on their own terms. And in such a B2B model, let the SaaS provider ensure the quality of service. We are also looking in this direction, and recently presented our B2B project - just aimed at publishers and game developers who would not like to create their own software for cloud games, but who are interested in the SaaS model.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/446848/
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