Gaming in the clouds: QoE and the users' perspective

Cloud Gaming is a new kind of service, which combines the successful concepts of Cloud Computing and Online Gaming. It provides the entire game experience to the users remotely from a data center. The player is no longer dependent on a specific type or quality of gaming hardware, but is able to use common devices. The end device only needs a broadband internet connection and the ability to display High Definition (HD) video. While this may reduce hardware costs for users and increase the revenue for developers by leaving out the retail chain, it also raises new challenges for service quality in terms of bandwidth and latency for the underlying network. In this paper we present the results of a subjective user study we conducted into the user-perceived quality of experience (QoE) in Cloud Gaming. We design a measurement environment, that emulates this new type of service, define tests for users to assess the QoE, derive Key Influence Factors (KIF) and influences of content and perception from our results. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.