Mitigating Latency in Cloud Game Streaming with Control Assistance

Abstract

Cloud game streaming has emerged as a transformative technology, democratizing access to graphically intensive games by shifting the computational burden from client devices to powerful cloud servers. This paradigm shifts enables gameplay on a diverse range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and low-powered PCs, eliminating the need for expensive gaming hardware. Furthermore, it simplifies game development by allowing developers to target a single, unified cloud platform, rather than managing compatibility across a multitude of hardware configurations. However, cloud gaming faces a critical challenge: network latency. The inherent delay in transmitting player input to the server and receiving the rendered game frames back to the client can severely impact gameplay, particularly in fast-paced, action-oriented genres. Traditional latency compensation methods employed in client-server multiplayer games are often ill-suited for cloud gaming due to the resource constraints of thin clients. This necessitates the exploration and development of innovative, server-side latency mitigation strategies.