Cloud gaming is on the rise, somehow. A report from Cloud Dosage states that cloud gaming revenue is set to surge 173% globally by 2030, estimated to hit nearly $29 billion, but this is a shocking sentiment for myself and many other gamers who don't know a single person who uses a cloud gaming service.

With so many people in the gaming community excited about local hardware, the RTX 50-series and a multitude of handheld gaming devices hitting the shelves, it's strange that cloud gaming is experiencing a quiet boom when, to most enthusiasts, it doesn't even feel worthy of discussing at the water-cooler.

However, reports show that cloud gaming is growing exponentially, five to eight times faster than mobile or physical games. However, it somehow remains a ghost segment of gaming to traditional gamers. So, where is all of this money actually coming from?

Who is actually paying?

If it's not me or my friends, who is it?

There are plenty of gamers who want to enjoy the latest titles without committing to a $500 console or even a $1500 PC. Instead, these users want to use the devices they already own, whether it be their phone, tablet, or even a smart TV, but not be limited to just mobile games.

In emerging markets around the world, like India and Southeast Asia, 5G expansion and affordable smartphones are becoming the first way for millions of people to experience AAA games. Many users want to try gaming out before making any large purchases, even down to games, due to the ever-increasing cost of the latest titles.

Alongside this, many users have access to cloud gaming services without actually using them. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, for example, provides gamers with the ability to use cloud gaming and therefore contributes to the cloud gaming economy. Millions of users are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass to access the library of titles on offer rather than cloud gaming.

Why now?

Technology is finally catching up

Despite the rocky start to cloud gaming when it initially launched, with services like Google Stadia completely shutting down, technology is finally catching up enough to allow people to access these services without interruption.

5G and better broadband are now becoming very widespread, with them being the norm in most urban areas. This has reduced latency tenfold and made the lag that early adopters may have faced when first trying out cloud gaming a thing of the past.

Accessing these services is also much easier than it used to be, with many of them now available on the App Store or Google Play Store. Survivors like GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and PlayStation Cloud can be used via a simple subscription service through their respective apps.

The enthusiast disconnect

Not made for hardcore gamers

Many enthusiasts value owning their hardware, files, and games, meaning that cloud gaming services don't appeal to them. Cloud gaming is the ultimate rental model, which can trigger subscription fatigue, which is the feeling of being overwhelmed and mentally drained by managing numerous recurring payments.

While cloud gaming is improving drastically thanks to new technology, it still doesn't compare to gaming natively. You'll still face input latency and image compression when compared to gaming on a 144Hz OLED display with a 1 ms response time. Even some of the best cloud gaming services will feel slow and laggy when compared to gaming natively. Users would rather put their hardware to good use if they have it.

Another downside to cloud gaming is that, while technology has improved, it still faces an invisible wall. Most internet service providers will place a data cap on your usage when using cloud gaming services. This is because they eat data at a rate that most residential internet service providers and all mobile phone plans still can't handle without throttling. Internet throttling can cause issues for other users in your home as well as for yourself.

The future is hybrid

Cloud gaming won't take over the world

Cloud gaming isn't coming to replace your PC; it's coming to fill the gaps in between. Cloud gaming makes gaming accessible to those who aren't able to invest in expensive hardware or just aren't willing to do so.

The main reason, like myself, that you may not know anyone who uses the service is because those who do aren't typically gaming or PC enthusiasts, but instead, those who want to jump into a quick game of Fortnite, Genshin Impact or even the latest AAA title without having to spend hundreds, if not thousands, on a new console or PC.

The reason cloud gaming revenue is at an all-time high is because the industry stopped trying to make cloud gaming a platform and started making it a feature accessible even to those who might not want it.