It’s been a month or so since the very first episode of Compiler, and I’m in this weird space where I can’t believe I’m paid to track down answers for the silly questions I have in my head about technology.
When I first pitched my episode on video games and edge computing, I honestly thought my boss would say no. That it was a stupid idea, that it was too complex for our newer show.
To my surprise, my team was enthused after hearing me talk (at length) about the pitfalls of online gaming and how edge infrastructure (could) be the game changer that all of my favorite Twitch streamers are waiting for.
There’s been a bit of writing about the possible impact of edge on cloud gaming, as well as mobile gaming. And of course, there is the much broader conversations about 5G and cloud. But in making this episode of Compiler, I was able to focus on what edge computing could deliver, not just to players dealing with latency issues, but maybe even to video game development itself.
What the end user sees is always the result of unseen labor. Players who log on to the hardware and service of their choice just want whatever game they are playing to work. I doubt that many of them think about the how — The peering agreements, and the sometimes haphazard way what we know as The Internet gets information from one point to another. Maybe some of them know just how janky that system is, how it was built by its early designers as a stop-gap and was never intended as an end-state.
Nevertheless, the internet that was built is in essence what we have now with a few exceptions and upgrades. That friction, between internet connectivity as it was created back then, and the demands that we place on it today, is what players actually see.
Usually, it’s in the form of a super coming out too late, if at all; or, it’s matching up with an opponent sitting in another continent and dealing with the lag. The performance is seen, and performance is key in a game’s quality and popularity. People that play fighting games are more acutely aware of this than most.
(We talk a lot about how the modern-day internet was built in the NSFNET episode during season 7 of Command Line Heroes, ICYMI. Really proud of that episode in particular: The internet was basically built the same way as one would go about selling Girl Scout cookies.)
Yes, fighting games. That was the inspiration behind my work, even though I am the first to admit that I am terrible at most of them.
Fighting games are a unique beast in gaming…because you have two people, two sources of input, two parties sending and receiving data, and responding exclusively to that data. Victory is dependent on reads, of the other player, and even of your own inputs. Unlike trying to track down an enemy on a large map, it’s fast and unforgiving.
Fighting games are like ballet. The opponent is your partner…if ballet revolved around hitting your partner with a Spinning Bird Kick.
A healthy, stable internet connection often makes the difference between a win and a loss. And edge computing could lower latency issues in connectivity. That’s the value proposition for players.
The more I learned about edge computing, though, the more I wondered:
How could game devs take advantage of improvements in internet connectivity, exactly? What are some of the organizational, or even creative ways, that it could impact game development?
There’s not much I could say about it on the podcast, mostly because it’s too early to say anything. Edge is still an emerging technology and the infrastructure, well, it is like a hot potato. It’s not decided who will be wholly responsible for its implementation.
But that’s the curiosity I have. To me, improved connectivity must have an effect on game developers, simply because they spend so much of their time navigating and building around connectivity issues. What would happen once that work was not as encompassing?
Could the many, many well-documented instances of unpolished, unfinished live service games become a thing of the past? (Ha! Probably not.) Could edge infrastructure make in-game AI faster and more intuitive, allowing creators to stretch their imaginations further? (Maybe?)
Could maintenance for in-game marketplaces become less intensive? This is the one I keep coming back to the most. How could lobbies change? Another good question, as it is a virtual space players spend a lot of their time.
The best theory I have is strictly organizational: It’s possible that teams in game development studios will be structured differently in some way. It could also affect hiring for projects, hopefully in a good, sustainable way for talent. (Praying for change in a bleak industry climate, at least as it pertains to employee wellness.)
I don’t really have a concrete answer. But it is fun to think of the possibilities.
I’m not an expert. Heck, I’m not even a developer. Full disclosure, your girl slings words and audio for a living. But she also loves games, and the tech that makes them work. I’m going to keep trying to ask questions like this. Don’t be afraid to hit me up with some answers and questions of your own.
