EA Launches Surprise Cloud Gaming Trial With Four Games

EA has announced its Cloud Gaming Technical Trial that will allow fans to test out EA's cloud technology with such titles as FIFA 19, Titanfall 2, Need for Speed Rivals, and Unravel.

EA's chief technology officer Ken Moss took to Medium to discuss EA's biggest public-facing step towards a cloud-based future since its announcement of Project Atlas last year, and fans can sign up now for a chance to try it out for themselves.

This test's main purpose is to "gather more inputs at scale to test performance and quality of service in a variety of network conditions and on multiple server routing scenarios." This test will be focused on cloud gaming on PC, but EA's goal is to allow gamers to play anywhere and on any device they choose.

EA wants to ensure "that there is strong quality of service in cloud gaming by being able to adjust to real-world, often less than ideal, conditions such as unstable bandwidth and network strength." Is utilizing Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the public cloud so it can "deploy as close to the players as possible, even in the face of unstable networks and changes in bandwidth."

The four games chosen for this trial - FIFA 19, Titanfall 2, Need for Speed Rivals, and Unravel, were picked so EA can test many different genres of game to ensure gamers get the best performance possible when/if EA's cloud service becomes a full-fledged service.

Furthermore, EA will be testing the "technical functionality of cross play" that will allow players to play together no matter what device they are using. Additionally, the goal is to ensure cross save will be implemented as well.

Moss states that cloud gaming is just "one part of our broader vision for how cloud will shape the future of gaming," and that "these continued investments in cloud, distributed computing, AI, social features, and engines will redefine the creation, distribution, and consumption of games."

"The bottom line is this. Cloud gaming is coming," Moss emphasized. "It’s no longer a question of if, but when. It’s still really early days but we’re excited to take this next step in our learning, and it’s great to be able to do it with some of you in our community. This is about enhancing the quality of our games and services for a cloud powered future. So if there is an opportunity to elevate the experience and inspire more people to play, we are going to explore it."

EA is just one player in the cloud gaming space that already has such players as Project xCloud from Microsoft and Google Stadia. Those services are planned to launch in October and November, respectively, and will undoubtedly pave the way for whenever EA is able to fully launch their vision of a cloud-based future.0

:story: IGN