Millions people have tried to play with different forms of streaming already, whether it's Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, PlayStation Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming or something else. And as most can vouch for, it actually works surprisingly well, and for some genres it's even impossible to tell the difference.
So far, the speed of your internet and how close you are to the servers, has been the most important factor to get streamed gaming to work really well. But with 5G being expanded at a fast pace, we will soon have really high speed internet almost everywhere. And this will of course bring consequences for gaming in various way.
The Final Fantasy producer Naoki Yoshida thinks streamed games working just as well as a local console, will pose a real threat to the later. He says to Financial Times: "Once 5G becomes the global standard, there will definitely come a time when we can transfer images to any device".
Yoshida also continues by explaining how high definition gaming will be possible to be enjoyed everywhere, not just when you have the proper equipment hooked up to a TV:
"Players can enjoy a high-quality gaming experience on any device by not being tethered to a gaming hardware or TV monitor. We are definitely going in that direction and I don't think the coronavirus will slow down this change. "
When people can play PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X with apps on their smartphone, laptop or smart-TV (or even a connected car or freezer with a proper display) without the need of an expensive console - many will undoubtedly do so. If there will be enough for a shift from consoles remains to be seen though.