By Zachary Hill, Gaming Intern, Client XPU Products and Solution, Intel.
For the Love of Gaming
I’m a gamer. It’s how I express myself, connect with friends, unwind and immerse in virtual worlds. It’s also how I earn a paycheck. As part of Intel’s gaming team, I work with leading game developers on hardware optimizations, so that the most popular titles play best on Intel silicon.
This work starts with understanding what gamers want. With all of today’s entertainment options, why choose gaming? What does someone get out of the experience? And how can new technologies make it even better?
With 1.4 billion gamers, there’s no one answer. But based on my time as a gamer and my work at Intel, here’s my take on why gamers game, where gaming is going and how Intel is advancing four key gaming experiences: deep immersion, dynamic competition, friendly co-operation and virtual community.
Deep Immersion: AI & the Resolution Revolution Advance World-Building
People play games to immerse in the rich details and lore of a cinematic world and the research shows that gaming hit an all-time high last year. That means incredible visuals, ultra-realistic physics and sophisticated AI come to life in the enormous, computer-controlled armies in the Total War series, or the living Western landscape of Red Dead Redemption 2, which has dynamic characters, animals, objects and even weather.
We’re now entering a new era in computer resolution and performance that will make these virtual worlds even better—and Intel is delivering the compute power and technologies that gamers need to enjoy it. For example, Intel is working with our OEM partners to co-engineer a new generation of gaming laptops that feature 11th Gen Intel® Core™ H-Series processors—the world’s best gaming laptop processor —and our latest desktop processors can push immersive experiences even further. These performance advances enable more advanced physics simulations, more intelligent non-player characters and more interactive objects.
On the graphics side, 4K is starting to become mainstream, and Intel is exploring how technologies like ray-tracing and variable rate shading can push all those pixels. These resolution advances change the gameplay experience. If you play Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1080p or above, you can see new details that deepen the immersion. When you have incredible performance, great graphics and fast storage, the effect feels like you are stepping into a 3D world.
There’s such a variety of worlds that you can experience when you game. It’s fun to explore that with friends—to see all the crazy physics, simulations and gameplay. - Zach Hill, Gaming Intern, CXPS
Dynamic Competition: Laptops & Connectivity Unleash Mobile Gaming
In competitive gaming, people race, fight and strategize against other players from around the globe. This is a diverse, dynamic experience, including everyone from ranked esports athletes playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to casual gamers who just want to unwind with a little Rocket League after work or school.
Intel is partnering with OEMs to create thinner, more powerful gaming laptops that will unleash those experiences, coming to coffee shops, bars, backyards, friend’s houses and more. Intel co-engineers laptops like the Dell Alienware X-Series to enable desktop-caliber gameplay, anywhere. Plus, Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) enables 75% lower latency and nearly 3x faster speeds than standard Wi-Fi.2 Eventually, 5G and cloud gaming may push even further, so people can play online from anywhere—just like watching movies or making video calls today.
Friendly Co-operation: The Rise of Multi-Platform Gaming
Gaming is better with friends. In co-op games like Monster Hunter: World, players team-up to take on the computer, explore an environment or solve puzzles. The gameplay is all about working together, having fun and sharing experiences.
Personally, I think this kind of gameplay is best in-person. So, while my desktop setup is better for streaming or experimenting with storage-hungry mods, I also keep a laptop so I can go play on a friend’s couch.
At Intel, our gaming teams recognize this trend and work to provide a range of different choices for the different ways people want to game. For example, an aspiring streamer might have a top-grade desktop for high-quality video content, but also one of Intel’s new category of ultraportable gaming laptops like the MSI Stealth 15M, which they can use to game between classes or after work.
Virtual Community: Gaming Becomes More Vibrant & Inclusive
Online gaming communities are growing fast, whether it’s streaming, modding or game-specific forums. I stream games myself, so I’ve seen how rewarding this can be. Especially during COVID-19, people have turned to gaming for connection, whether they’re watching a League of Legends stream or exploring alternate mods in Sims, Minecraft or Skyrim.
During the pandemic, I noticed that players tried harder to make sure these interactions are social, healthy and inclusive. I’m proud that Intel is working towards this same important goal by leading anti-toxicity efforts, supporting more diverse streamers and even creating the AI-based Bleep app to automatically remove offensive language. Communities are at the heart of gaming, as they act as a place where people can connect with each other as well as learn from and help others.
That’s good for all gamers—and gaming in general. It means a bigger, more engaged, more vibrant community that attracts more players, fans, sponsors and investment.
Leveling Up: A Bright Future Ahead
Intel is working with our OEM partners and software companies to accelerate all of these trends. We want to ensure that every one of the 1.4 billion gamers can find the PC, gameplay and communities that are right for them.
As a gamer and a gaming professional, I’m looking forward to the technologies that come next, and the new gaming experiences that they make possible.
To read more stories about Intel’s gaming innovation, visit here.