Amazon gaming chief Jeff Gattis believes rising hardware costs and improving cloud technology will drive more players towards game streaming, although industry experts say traditional consoles are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
Amazon’s head of gaming believes dedicated video game consoles will gradually become less essential as rising hardware prices and advances in cloud technology encourage more players to stream games instead.
Speaking to the BBC, Jeff Gattis said cloud gaming has matured significantly in recent years and could offer an attractive alternative for consumers unwilling to spend hundreds of pounds on new gaming hardware.
He said: “As hardware becomes more expensive, and as streaming technology continues to improve, I think you’ll naturally see more people asking whether they actually need that dedicated device.”
His comments come as Amazon announced it is integrating its Luna cloud gaming platform directly into the Prime Video app, allowing users to access games alongside films and television shows through a new Games tab on compatible Fire TV devices in the UK and US.
Cloud gaming allows players to stream games from remote servers without needing to install them on a console or gaming PC, instead playing through devices such as smartphones, tablets or compatible controllers.
Gattis believes the technology could appeal to a much broader audience than the traditional console market.
He said: “There are somewhere between two-and-a-half and three billion people who play games around the world, but only a fraction of those own dedicated gaming hardware.”
However, cloud gaming has yet to become mainstream despite years of investment from major technology companies.
Google shut down its Stadia platform in 2023 after admitting the service had failed to attract enough users, while Sony and Microsoft continue to offer cloud gaming as part of their subscription services alongside traditional console gaming.
Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Game Business, told the BBC that streaming could appeal to players interested in major releases such as Grand Theft Auto VI without investing in expensive hardware.
But he cautioned that publishers still generate significantly more revenue through conventional game sales than subscription services.
Joost van Dreunen, professor of games business at New York University’s Stern School of Business, also questioned whether cloud gaming is ready to replace consoles.
He cited latency, inconsistent internet performance, and the lack of a proven business model as ongoing obstacles, although he acknowledged that rising hardware costs could gradually encourage more players to consider streaming.
Van Dreunen said: “For the first time in the industry’s history, consoles are getting more expensive toward the end of their lifecycle.
“I’m skeptical that it will immediately push more players to the cloud quickly, but I do predict a gradual adoption of alternatives.”
Amazon gaming boss predicts that consoles will become a thing of the past
