From Atari and Pong, which were released over 50 years ago, to Sony’s PlayStation, video games have played a significant role in our lives and culture since they were introduced.
According to the latest data, approximately 3.09 billion video gamers are active worldwide. That figure has risen by over 1 billion in just seven years (that’s a 32% increase). And the number of gamers is expected to hit 3.32 billion by 2024. The video game market is worth an estimated $197.11 billion.
With the popularization of online video games over the past decades, the quality of one’s internet connection has become integral to the video gaming experience. Here’s how important the internet and TDS are in video gaming.
When it comes to video games, two measurements determine the quality of the game’s internet connection: latency and jitter. Simply speaking, latency is the time it takes for data to travel from one point on the network to another. An example of latency would be the time between pressing a button on your gaming controller and the corresponding action taking place on the screen. In video games, the lower your latency, the faster your controller inputs are registered in the game and amongst the other players, making it vital for online video game performance.
“With the major online games, latency is huge,” said Brandon, TDS manager of Consumer Internet Product Management. “The lower your latency is, the more of an advantage you have when playing most online games.”
Jitter is the consistency of your latency. These two factors can drastically affect one’s gaming experience. Without good latency and jitter, online video games can be rendered unplayable.
The type of technology your internet provider uses can drastically change the latency and jitter you have.
“Fiber optic internet services generally have the lowest latency of any internet service out there,” Brandon said. “Latency on our fiber is much lower than what we see from the technology of many of our competitors.”
Fiber internet also boasts better symmetrical speeds than cable internet. Symmetrical speed is the speed at which you upload and download data at the same time. With fiber internet, you can download your games or upload clips that much faster.
Symmetrical speeds have become increasingly important in gaming due to the rising popularity of livestreaming. Many gamers will now livestream themselves playing a game to an audience of friends or fans on platforms like Twitch, Kick, and YouTube Live. Livestreaming video games takes a lot of bandwidth and fast upload speeds, both of which fiber internet can provide.
“A fiber connection allows you to stream your gaming to Twitch or YouTube smoothly,” said Brandon.
TDS’ use of fiber optic technology to provide internet makes them an ideal choice for video gamers, which has been a rising demographic for years. Using TDS’ fiber internet service will lead to lower latency and jitter and a better gaming experience. Thanks to its fiber technology, TDS ranks as the best gaming internet service provider (ISP) in Wisconsin and the third-best gaming ISP in Oregon, according to PCMag.
“With the fiber optic internet services we have, TDS is well positioned to be the best internet service provider for gamers in any market we enter,” Brandon said.
By Will Chamblee, TDS Communications Intern
