Nvidia predicted developments in cloud and 5G to transform the mobile gaming sector, unlocking experiences on smartphones which were previously the domain of dedicated PCs and consoles.

The company’s director of global ecosystem and business development for AI, edge and accelerated computing Joao Kluck Gomes told Mobile World Live mobile is currently the largest segment of the gaming market, but titles available are typically simple and archaic due to the limitations of smartphones.

He added cloud and 5G will bring “photorealistic 4K gameplay with fast responses” to mobile, along with laying a foundation for metaverse content.

To capture the opportunity, operators will need to invest in “GPU-accelerated network edge computing” in addition to 5G, Gomes said.

Gomes explained cloud streaming combines “AI and compute graphics to enable dynamic, interactive and immersive virtual spaces”, citing potential applications for operators beyond gaming, with automotive players including BMW and Mercedes-Benz among businesses employing the approach to create “real-time replicas of their factories to quickly train robots on new tasks and even create digital twins of 5G networks”.

The expert believes cloud gaming is now on-par with dedicated gaming PCs or consoles, though conceded the experience on a large screen with a fibre connection “is different than playing with smartphones as some games do not suit small screens and limited touchscreen controls”.

Dedicated gaming smartphones including those from Razer are helping address such lingering limitations and Gomes noted the idea of mobile gaming could ultimately become literal, with chips installed in autonomous vehicles to enable people to play while they travel.