Introduction
In our most recent Town Hall, CEO Andy Pringle related how one gaming industry professional, when presented with the technology and vision of YOM, described us as a ‘game changer’. Myself, though I am the resident American and we are known for our brash demeanor here, I try to be more reserved in describing the project. I know that the term ‘revolutionary’ is attributed to many projects in the web3 space, and I just don’t like when phrases like that are overused.
On reflection, while I was working on making edits on the Town Hall over the weekend, I took time to ask, is that gaming industry expert correct? I’ve been a consumer of games for over 40 years, and creator in the space for nearly 25 years. When I look at what we have done, where we are going, and who we are in the company of, I am in agreement. YOM is going to be a game changer by delivering the foundation for the creative future internet.
But before we can all agree, let’s go all the way back to where games started for me.
Brief History of Game Delivery
Though I’m not ashamed to say my first gaming system was indeed Pong, I’m going to start this journey with the Atari 2600. The revolution of allowing one console to play different titles and selling the cartridges set the industry off. PC and Apple gaming also was happening, but to get to the retail market, the industry realized that there were far more televisions in households than personal computers, so to expand, they needed to go where the consumers were. That meant the living room and the television. This will be important when we later consider VR/AR vs the monitor.
During the 2000, as gaming computers became more prevalent and the gaming industry less of a niche and more the dominant entertainment format, digital distribution through platforms like Steam were created. This distribution expanded to where we are today, with consoles like Xbox and PlayStation also distributing via the download/install path. And it should be remembered that today the gaming industry generates more revenue than movies, music, and television combined. The projected revenue for 2030 is to be $525 billion. Makes me feel smart that I targeted gaming as my industry way back when I was in art school.
So we know that the gaming industry can find the gaming audience, and gaming appeals to a wide enough demographic to dominate all forms of entertainment. The next innovation is going to be how to reach beyond those already gaming to those who are held out due to technical or access constraints. It is this challenge that YOM is built for.
The Cloud Gaming Promise
The evolution of how games are delivered to the end user continued to expand, looking for the best ways to reach the mass market. Cloud computing became a concept that held much promise for getting more people able to use more software, so the concept of cloud gaming was offered up. For cloud computing, the idea of using Word or Excel installed on a computer in the cloud certainly seemed practical. Latency in a spreadsheet is really of little concern.
However, gaming from a cloud never delivered on the promise. Massive central servers are expensive to construct, environmentally disruptive, and configured for efficiency. The efficiency of cloud computing did not consider gaming as a major vertical, so it is difficult to allot all the aspects that cloud gaming requires. This means ‘bare metal’ access to virtual machines allowing for not just visuals but also audio from gameplay to be streamed to the end user. And then there’s the most important aspect, getting the latency down to keep the game reactive to the player. Spreadsheets be damned, when I pull the trigger, I need the gun to fire! When the central server is too far from the end user, or not configured for gaming, the smart move for the central servers was to focus on those computing functions that benefit from pooled machines, like AI, and leave gaming behind.
These limitations to the central server model left open a lane that was asking for a new technology to spring forward. On the back of blockchain technology, DePINs began to arrive.
YOM: A New Era with DePIN
The promise of cloud gaming has to be fulfilled and it is being recognized that DePIN technology will get us there. DePINs, Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks, are being built to more efficiently deliver many different data streams, and offer many additional benefits. DePINs are created to take advantage of underutilized computational power, often using consumer grade hardware, and reward the owner of that unmined power financially. DePINs have the added benefit of computing on the edge, which is why cloud gaming from a DePIN should be obvious.
YOM joins others in realizing that DePIN is the solution to the cloud gaming problems of cost and speed. We spend a fair amount of time looking at the market, monitoring the competitors, and validating our path. In this vertical, there are differences in approaches to the technology and greater differences in the approach to the market. The reason that I will agree that YOM is a game changer is because the approach we have taken is more sustainable, scalable, and creatively freeing. Let’s talk about some of the things that set YOM apart.
The YOM Technical Difference
The depth of my technical training has limits, and I promise I’ll have CTO Jorrit vet what I’ve written here, but here is how I would explain our differentiation on the technical front.
Cloud gaming requires two major components, the game stream and the backend which includes the orchestrator and match making. In reverse, the backend is monitoring the network at all times, validating which nodes are running, what game is installed in what region and is demand being met. In this backend, the matchmaker determines when an end user arrives and that they are paired with the most correct node for performance. The other component is the game stream, the back and forth connection between the end user and the computational component. Again, this is a highly simplified model.
For a successful cloud gaming network to work technologically, the most important aspect that has to happen on the edge is the game stream. This is the part that nodes excel at, which is why we at YOM have our nodes built to take advantage of the underutilized gaming rigs that exist in the market. The other components, the matchmaking and orchestration, can be centralized because it is most efficient to have a single origination point for the actions they perform.
So in the competitive space we’re in, as we look to other cloud gaming solutions, we see that our technical delivery appears to be the only system that decentralized the most important component and leaves the others centralized as it provides the best results.
The YOM Market Difference
There is a second differentiating factor that points all the way back to what I wrote about why Atari 2600 worked by going to the television sets in the living rooms. For the gaming industry to expand massively on the back of cloud gaming, we have to remember where the consumers are. They are online and looking at monitors and smart TVs. This means putting games out via URLs and other platforms like Telegram, Reddit, and streaming services like Netflix.
Where some have decided to construct a Steam-like competitor, requiring them to steal market share from a well-established platform, we expect YOM to be complementary to that platform. We are offering a path to ‘try before you buy’ on our network. For some titles, YOM will become that demo disk that used to come with PC Gamer magazine.
With the YOM structure, we also have that ability to bring gaming into the living room just as Atari did via the smart TVs and streaming services. Playing a game that is tied into the IP offered on Netflix now just means using your phone as the controller and hitting play on Netflix. For these large streaming platforms, it means not losing their viewers to a different channel or device when they want to game.
Vision for the Future:
How much will change when we are able to experience rich, AAA-quality worlds via any device on any URL. At YOM we believe it will be nothing short of a new, parallel world existing on the internet. While flat sites will likely never go away, as they are efficient in delivering information quickly when that is the goal, 3D sites are going to begin to explode. They will offer the immersion that is closest to the real world.
Patrons to this internet world will have a persona that they move from site to site, doing commerce and social engagement while existing as an avatar they associate with, either as part of a community they have embraced (think pfp NFTs) or as their own unique self. From small social gathering to large events, existing online will not be funneled into a single portal but instead be ubiquitous, outside of a single ‘game’ or ‘world’ and instead live in what will be the actual metaverse.
YOM is the DePIN built and aimed at that version. It’s why ‘Game Changer’ is not hyperbole.
Conclusion
Revolutionary is actually the goal and we should be saying that more. The vision for YOM was there early on, and while refined, we have only worked toward bringing it closer with each milestone we’ve passed. We continue to monitor the space, looking for both partners and competitors, and even hoping to turn some competitors into partners. There is a lot of ground to cover, and at times competition pushes us and other times cooperation pulls us. Where we are going is pretty damned amazing, but let’s not forget to enjoy the journey while we travel.
About YOM:
YOM is pioneering the first cloud gaming infrastructure (DePIN) on Solana, streaming games, white-label experiences and entirely new entertainment formats at scale. Leveraging a distributed network of gaming machines, YOM offers global low-latency near-zero costs cloud gaming to any device and channel, effectively eliminating the need for dedicated game consoles (Xbox, Playstation). The project is backed by a network of advisors and firms such as Outlier Ventures and Borderless Capital.
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