Cloud gaming is going to make customer support more complicated

New cloud-based game platforms like Google Stadia and Apple Arcade are potentially great for gamers, offering on-demand, download-free, anytime, anywhere games. But, drawing on over 20 years’ experience supporting games, I see some serious challenges on the horizon for the industry, and especially those who engage with the player community.

Throw traditional behavior forecasts out the window

The rise of media streaming platforms like Netflix created new customer behaviors. It’s likely we’ll see similar changes from those using on-demand gaming service. Because as these services bypass downloads, updates, and, in some cases, barriers to purchase, switching between games will become nearly instantaneous for players. And that has a huge impact on any support team’s ability to accurately forecast player volumes and how much support is needed at any one time.