“Piranha Plant Joins the Battle!” are words I just heard playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on my Nintendo Switch and words gamers may hear in the near future playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on their Macbooks.

In this article I’m going to discuss why Apple’s move into video games is going to help lead to a gaming reality that looks a whole lot like Ready Player One (sans the dystopia).

Cloud Gaming

Apple is developing a “Netflix for gaming-” a subscription service where you pay a monthly or annual fee to stream games from their servers.

There’s no downloading of games necessary, and all you need is your computer, or computer and bluetooth controller.

This is known as cloud gaming and there are already several other companies making headwinds in this field: Playstation Now, Liquid Sky, Vortex, and Abya.

No, not gaming with the Final Fantasy character, Cloud, but streaming video games FROM the cloud!

I had previously written that cloud gaming is far off, but now with Apple’s involvement, substantial budget, existing patents, hardware, and development talent, it’s very possible cloud gaming may arrive sooner than expected… especially paired with advancements in 5G technology.

To Infinity… Virtual Reality and Cloud Gaming

Imagine putting on virtual reality glasses, noise canceling headphones, and haptic gloves, jumping into a massive universe spanning simulation, and loading up your Buzz Lightyear avatar.

You’re surrounded by Zurg and his army, and a fierce battle is about to ensue. You’re there with several of your friends, and this happens to be a special mission, which is not only very challenging, but very challenging to get to in the first place.

It’s challenging to get to in the simulation, and from where we are now, in 2019, it’s also challenging to get to…. but not insurmountable.

With Apple now working on cloud gaming, and Facebook and John Carmack continuing their work on virtual and augmented reality, we may be much closer to a scenario like this than it seems.

We may be closer to a world in the cloud where anything is possible, and the only hardware we need to access it is speciality glasses.

And Beyond!

The battle commences. Aliens everywhere, you take the lead, charging, screaming, leading your friends into battle. In the distance is a massive floating starship. You take out a rocket launcher and shoot at it, opening a hole.

Your wings pop out and you shout, “To infinity, and beyond!” You blast over the fighting masses. NPCs and avatars piloted by real humans are battling amongst each other below you.

You fly into the starship and retrieve a powerful, and valuable orb. The orb is made provably scarce with blockchain, and now you and your clan have an item that none other have.

You leave the battle, no more casualties necessary. You decide not to sell the orb on the open market, where it would no doubt fetch a high price in a currency that could also be used outside of the simulation, but to keep it for future missions.

Right now we have major hurdles in all the technology necessary to make this possible, but Apple’s foray into cloud gaming signifies the pieces of the puzzle beginning to come together.

Between, Apple, Sony, and many other large tech companies (or startups comprised of people from these companies), we’re bound to soon have a reality with fast and reliable cloud gaming. Paired with all the talent working on VR and blockchain, Ready Player One, and a scenario where you’re Buzz Lightyear, may be just in the next star system.