by Contributing Author

How Does 5G Technology Work in Video Games?

If you’re into mobile technology, you must have heard about 5G. This is the new standard for mobile-internet connectivity and it promises to turn out the user experience. It’s already being rolled out and is being used by a growing number of people, though it’s far from being available everywhere just yet. In this article, we’ll run you through the basics of 5G and talk about how it works with video games, and how it improves players’ gaming experience. Have a read to learn more about 5G and if you’re a video game player, you may want to start using 5G yourself, so you can experience its many benefits for yourself.

What Is 5G?

So what exactly is 5G? It’s the next generation of networks that enables mobiles to connect to the internet. It’s the fifth main iteration to date, the previous ones being 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G. The ‘G’ in the name stands for ‘Generation’. The higher the number, the more recent and advanced the wireless technology is. 5G is therefore meant to be better than the previous four generations in terms of what it can do and how it can benefit users.

In November 2021, most mobile devices use 4G to connect to the internet. Some use 3G. However, users who regularly rely on 4G may automatically switch to 3G if the signal quality in their current location isn’t good enough to meet the 4G standards.

5G began rolling out in 2019. It can be used in many countries around the world, but it’s still going to take some time before it’s as widely available as the current most popular network, 4G. In fact, it’s expected to have 580 million users by the end of 2021, and 3.5 billion by the end of 2026. The worldwide rollout isn’t even close to halfway through yet, but many people are already using it and enjoying the advantages it brings.

 Here’s a look at how 5G and 4G compare:

Standards	4G	5G
Average Speed	25mbps	200-400mbps
Latency	10 milliseconds	1 millisecond
Bandwidth	200mbps	More than 1gbps
Potential Download Speed	10mbps	100gbps

The facts mentioned in the table above are just a few that show how much of an improvement 5G is over the existing 4G.

With 5G, networks are capable of handling more devices than before. This means that a 5G network won’t slow down or disrupt your connection if there are lots of people trying to connect their device to it – there’s enough room for everyone to have uninterrupted connectivity.

5G and Video Games

When it comes to mobile games that require a constant internet connection, the quality of the gaming experience you get depends largely on the quality of your device’s connection to the internet. If your phone or tablet’s internet isn’t that strong or it keeps cutting off, this will affect the online games you play. It can cause the standard of the graphics and animations to drop, and it can cause delays and that games don’t load properly. The better your internet connection, the smoother and more problem-free the games should be.

So how does 5G work in video games? Here are some of the key benefits:

• Thanks to much faster download speeds, you can download data and entire games much more quickly;
• The latency is very low indeed; this means that it should take much less time for game servers to respond to requests. Having low latency is especially beneficial for fast-paced games, including multiplayer shooters;
• It enables two recent new innovations in gaming – augmented reality and virtual reality – to become even more immersive, seamless and lifelike than ever before;
• It makes streaming a lot more reliable and convenient, and greatly reduces the amount of buffering; with streaming, you can enjoy gaming content without having to store it on your device

The gaming experience is already great with 4G. If you try 5G, however, you will see that almost everything is enhanced in some way. To the average person, some of the changes may seem minimal or insignificant, or even not that useful at all. However, if you’re a gamer and you pay attention to things like speed, performance and quality, you more than likely will notice some differences if you switch to 5G.

When we talk about 5G improving the gaming experience, we’re referring to any sort of web-based game you can play on a mobile device. This includes regular video games, as well as online casino games and virtual/augmented reality games.

If you enjoy playing video slots online, 5G should make them even more immersive, realistic and engaging. Slots and other casino games are a lot different from video games in that they’re quick to play. A single spin of a slot can last seconds and a round of a card game can be over in minutes or less, for example. Proper video games, on the other, demand hours and hours of playtime. They take up considerably more data than casino games.

When playing games on 5G devices, you should find that they work a little bit better than they do when running on 4G or even 3G. The game is always the same. The difference is in the technology that powers it.

The Effect of 5G on the Video Games Industry

We’ve established that 5G improves many aspects of playing games, and the games themselves. As it becomes more widely available and more people use it, it’s likely that game developers will start focusing on creating games with 5G in mind; if they haven’t already started doing so. 

With 5G, there are fewer limits and developers can make their games do a lot more. As well as that, they can make the games all the more immersive and lifelike. In other words, 5G gives those who design games a new set of standards to aspire to. This can only be a good thing for the industry and especially for those who play games. Over the coming years, we’ll likely see lots of developers creating games that take full advantage of 5G’s capabilities. 

Using 5G

The 4G gaming experience is great. But, gamers always want more and that’s what 5G brings to the table. If you’re looking to try out 5G yourself, there are a few things you’ll need:

• A mobile phone that’s built to be compatible with 5G;
• A data plan that includes 5G;
• To be in a location with 5G coverage.

If you have a 5G-enabled phone and a 5G plan, your phone will use 5G whenever it’s in an area with coverage. If you’re in a place that doesn’t have coverage, your phone will automatically revert to using 4G – just like how, as mentioned above, current 4G devices can switch to 3G. Your phone will switch back to 5G as soon as it can get a signal for it. Nowadays phones are smart enough to keep internet connection without any interruptions, while you are playing favourite games or video slots.

The development of 5G continues, and providers are doing everything they can to extend coverage as efficiently as possible. If you’re curious to see if it’s available where you are, a quick online search should tell you. If it’s not currently available where you live, keep checking regularly because it may well be in the near future.

In case you’re concerned about data, there’s nothing to worry about. 5G doesn’t use any more data than 4G. The key difference is that 5G is faster. If you download a file, it will use up the same amount of data whether you’re using 4G or 5G. The difference is that with 5G the speed of the download will be much quicker and you won’t have to wait as long for the file to be fully downloaded onto your phone.

Summary

5G takes the gaming experience to the next level. It takes many aspects of gaming and improves them in a number of ways. If you’re a keen gamer and you want the best possible experience from the games you play, switching to 5G makes complete sense. After all, it’s the next big thing in the world of gaming, and it can benefit you and your mobile internet usage in many other ways too.

Switch to 5G if it’s available where you are, and enjoy an enhanced gaming experience. If you can’t make the change just yet, stay with 4G for the time being – 4G may not be as advanced, but it’s still very much worthwhile. 5G is widely talked about as the future of communications and entertainment. Many predictions have been made about how it will revolutionise things and pave the way for even more advances to take place. Gaming is just one area that’s being benefitted by it. Play video games with 5G for the ultimate gaming experience.