why the world is falling out of love with gaming

If you’ve been paying attention to the gaming industry lately, you might have noticed a shift. Console sales are slumping, hardware prices are skyrocketing, and massive AAA studios are struggling to keep their player bases engaged.

Recently, IGN published a compelling article asking a harsh question: Is the world falling out of love with traditional video games? The piece highlighted a traditional gaming model that is buckling under the weight of expensive hardware, shifting consumer attention, and unsustainable business models. But while the legacy industry faces an existential crisis, we at YOM see something else: validation. The walled-garden, hardware-heavy console era is reaching its breaking point. And the solutions to the exact problems IGN highlighted are exactly what we are building right now on the YOM network.

Here is how YOM’s infrastructure is paving the way for the post-console era.

1. bypassing “RAMmageddon” with DePIN

Memory prices are squeezing console and PC makers, and a DePIN network sidesteps that by using GPUs that were already bought.

The problem: The traditional gaming industry is facing a severe hardware crunch. With AI giants sweeping up global RAM and SSD supplies, manufacturing costs are surging. The result? Dwindling console sales (Xbox hardware is down 32%) and a future where next-gen consoles like the PS6 could be prohibitively expensive.

The YOM solution: We are eliminating the hardware barrier entirely. Through our DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) model, YOM crowd-sources idle gaming GPUs from a global network of PC owners. Gamers no longer need to shell out $500 for a console or $2,000 for a rig just to play the latest titles. Instead, they can stream AAA games directly to the devices they already own, whether that’s a smartphone, tablet, or a low-end laptop.

2. zero-friction play for the modern gamer

A $70 purchase and a 100GB download is friction that a browser tab does not have, and instant play removes both.

The problem: Traditional gaming simply has too much friction. Players are expected to buy expensive hardware, pay a $70 purchase price upfront, and wait for a 100GB download. In an era of short-video feeds, instant AI apps and browser-based entertainment, players are abandoning high-friction AAA titles for immediate, on-the-go experiences.

The YOM solution: We believe jumping into a game should be as easy as watching a YouTube video. YOM turns AAA gaming into a frictionless, instant experience. Because games on the YOM network are streamed via web links, developers can drop a link in a Telegram chat, a Discord server, or an X feed, and a player can jump into a high-end 3D world instantly. We are capturing the exact mobile and on-the-go audience that traditional consoles are currently bleeding.

3. the true promise of cloud gaming

Centralized cloud gaming from Xbox Cloud or GeForce Now proved players want streaming, but their data centre economics never closed.

The problem: The IGN article notes that players are being “seduced by cloud gaming services” as an alternative to hardware upgrades. However, traditional, centralized cloud gaming (like Xbox Cloud or GeForce Now) requires billions in vulnerable, expensive data center infrastructure.

The YOM solution: Centralized cloud gaming is a stepping stone; decentralized cloud gaming is the destination. By bringing compute power closer to the end-user via local nodes, YOM targets a sub-10 ms median latency for players within about 50 km of a node (measured live on yom.net/source-of-truth) at a fraction of centralized cloud cost: a Standard session of up to an hour costs $0.08, against about $1.23 for the same hour on a data-centre GPU reserved for the peak. We make high-performance cloud gaming economically viable and infinitely scalable for the first time.

4. rescuing squeezed publishers with no storefront cut

Publishers lose about 30% of revenue to platform fees, and a distribution layer without a storefront gives that margin back.

The problem: Because hardware and player growth are stagnating, traditional publishers are trying to survive by squeezing their existing bases with aggressive subscription hikes and expensive microtransactions. Furthermore, they are losing 30% of their revenue to the walled-garden taxes of Apple, Google, and console storefronts.

The YOM solution: YOM flips the economics for game studios. It cuts customer acquisition costs and takes no storefront cut: studios pay per session streamed, not 30% of every sale. YOM lets developers publish directly to their audience via the web. This makes ambitious new games financially sustainable again, without the need to exploit players just to break even.

welcome to the post-console era

The console is not disappearing, but it stops being the thing a player has to buy before they can play.

The traditional gaming industry isn’t dying; it’s evolving. The friction of $70 price tags, massive downloads, and expensive hardware is pushing gamers away. They want accessibility, instant gratification, and high-quality experiences wherever they are.

At YOM, we aren’t just predicting the future of gaming. We are building the infrastructure for it. By decentralizing hardware, eliminating downloads, and moving AAA experiences to frictionless web streams, we are ready to catch the gamers, and the developers, who are ready for something better.

Are you ready to build the future of cloud gaming with us? Join the YOM community on Discord or Telegram and learn how you can run a node or talk to us about streaming your game.

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