The Role of GPUs in Cloud Gaming: Aethir’s DePIN Value Proposition

Cloud gaming is revolutionizing how players worldwide can experience AAA gaming without paying high amounts of money for pricey computers or consoles. Instead of burdening the player’s hardware device with complex 3D rendering workloads that require strong GPUs, cloud gaming allows anyone to enjoy gaming even with a low-end PC. That’s because cloud gaming utilizes off-site GPU servers to conduct data processing and rendering, while players simply stream games with a stable internet connection. Cloud gaming platforms have different pricing models, with the most popular solution being monthly subscriptions. While cloud gaming is surging in global adoption, it still requires immense GPU computing capacity. However, instead of players, gaming companies and publishers are the ones who need access to vast supplies of GPU power when it comes to cloud gaming.

High-end GPUs are expensive, even for users in high-income regions and especially for those in lower-income countries. Top-quality GPUs are often more expensive than all the other gaming PC parts combined. The hefty GPU prices represent a significant entry barrier to AAA gaming for millions of players, and cloud gaming offers a viable solution. Still, most cloud gaming platforms rely on centralized cloud computing resources for GPU power. This leads to high cloud computing power costs for gaming companies and, subsequently, to increased subscription fees for end-users.

Aethir’s DePIN stack utilizes a much more efficient cloud computing approach compared to traditional, centralized cloud providers. Our decentralized GPU cloud represents a cost-effective way to provide gamers worldwide access to AAA gaming without owning expensive hardware, spending hundreds of dollars on GPUs, or paying high cloud streaming subscription fees.

GPUs: The Powering Force behind AAA Gaming

Graphics processing units are vital for game rendering and are responsible for most of the hardware heavy lifting when playing games. The rapid evolution of consumer-grade GPUs in PC gaming can be traced back to the late 90s when NVIDIA launched their GeForce 256 DDR chipset in 1999, sparking a gaming graphics revolution that led to the massive global GPU expansion with NVIDIA as the undisputed market leader. Today’s state-of-the-art NVIDIA gaming chipsets like the GeForce RTX 4090 and GeForce RTX 4080 Super are a result of over two decades of meticulous research and development that empowers gaming studios to launch breathtaking AAA games that utilize advanced 3D rendering technology such as the Unreal 5 Engine. GPUs are the centerpiece of gaming evolution, enabling developers to create ever more visually appealing gaming worlds and features, paving the way for never-before-seen immersive gaming experiences.

GPUs are tremendously complex pieces of hardware dependent on semiconductor chips, which are scarce and require advanced technology for development. Essentially, GPUs are built as electronic circuits that can rapidly perform mathematical calculations. They use highly specialized transistors and memory to perform graphics processing tasks much faster and more efficiently than CPUs. AAA games require significant GPU power to run. When playing a newly launched, fast-paced, open-world RPG, the underlying GPU constantly performs vast processing tasks to ensure all gameplay elements are functioning smoothly and rendered in real-time for a flawless gaming experience. 

However, strong gaming GPUs are quite expensive, with the newest NVIDIA chipsets priced well over $1000. This makes them inaccessible for 1.2 billion gamers in regions with predominantly low-end gaming hardware. Luckily, cloud gaming can provide these gamers with a much more affordable solution for AAA gaming by directly streaming games to mid and low-end devices. Thanks to Aethir’s decentralized cloud infrastructure, gaming studios, and publishers can utilize a cost-effective GPU cloud network to reach millions of users much more efficiently and at lower costs than by using traditional, centralized cloud providers.

GPU Clouds: Centralized vs Decentralized Cloud Infrastructure

There are two types of GPU cloud infrastructure models: centralized and decentralized. 

Centralized cloud infrastructure is a traditional model pioneered by big-tech companies such as Amazon Web Services and Google, utilizing massive data centers to house thousands of GPUs. These data centers are primarily located in regional capitals and service millions of users daily. Companies that need access to cloud computing infrastructure rent GPU computing power from these providers, which then service their end-users by dedicating a GPU to each user. For example, when you use some of the leading cloud gaming platforms, you’re utilizing a GPU stationed in a massive, centralized data center. This model is quite sufficient when it comes to providing computing power to users relatively close to the data centers. However, as the distance between the compute provider and the end user increases, so does the risk of latency issues due to increased GPU workloads and scalability limits. To maintain their profitability, centralized cloud services need to charge hefty fees because each user gets a whole dedicated GPU, although they are mostly using less than 50% of the GPU’s capacity for just a few hours per day. 

Instead of renting 100% of their GPU supplies, centralized cloud providers have massive amounts of underutilized GPU resources, but they still charge users as if they are using an entire GPU’s capacity. This is why popular cloud gaming platforms often charge high subscription fees, which are unaffordable for millions of gamers in low-income countries.

Decentralized cloud infrastructure has a different, more cost-effective approach to providing GPU cloud services. Aethir’s pioneering GPU-as-a-service decentralized cloud utilizes a distributed network architecture with GPU resources scattered in a multitude of locations worldwide. By decentralizing cloud infrastructure in numerous server locations, Aethir can efficiently service clients around the world and their end-users with the physically closest available GPU Containers. By cutting the distance between end-users and GPUs, Aethir’s decentralized cloud can provide ultra-low-latency streaming services, crucial for fast-paced cloud gaming. Instead of concentrating GPU supplies in regional capitals, a decentralized GPU cloud can reach users in distant regions and efficiently service them without compromising quality. 

Furthermore, decentralized cloud infrastructure pools GPU power from multiple sources simultaneously, thus securing 100% resource utilization. If a user needs 30% of a cloud GPU’s capacity at a given moment, the remaining 70% is distributed among other end-users. By maximizing GPU utilization, Aethir can provide enterprise clients with much lower service prices than centralized cloud companies. Finally, decentralized cloud infrastructure is scalable in real-time, which means clients can request fresh GPU resources from Aethir and receive their required GPU power at short notice by channeling idle resources through the Aethir network. 

Aethir’s Decentralized GPU Cloud Value Proposition

Aethir’s DePIN stack is the only decentralized enterprise-grade GPU-as-a-service provider on the market, focused on AI and gaming clients. We’ve built the largest distributed GPU network specifically for enterprise clients, empowering developers to create and launch next-generation gaming projects that genuinely transform the way games are played and experienced.

Our decentralized GPU cloud has three core elements: Containers, Checkers, and Indexers. These elements facilitate the smooth flow of secure, reliable, and scalable GPU power to our clients.

Containers are all GPU resources in Aethir’s DePIN stack. Aethir has 43,000+ top-shelf GPUs in its network and an exclusive supply of 3000+ NVIDIA H100s for advanced AI workloads. We have recently opened applications to onboard new cohorts of enterprise GPU supplies into the Aethir ecosystem through our New Horizons program. Furthermore, we have distributed 32,000+ Aethir Edge devices globally, enabling device owners to become containers in Aethir’s network and support our cloud gaming clients with premium quality cloud computing. Aethir Edge owners receive rewards in Aethir’s native token, ATH, for their contributions to our cloud computing infrastructure. The Aethir Foundation has recently announced special increased daily rewards of 100 ATH per day for each Aethir Edge device from November 2024 to mid-2025. Also, we have a wide range of bare metal GPU offerings in our Aethir Earth and Aethir Atmosphere product lines, which are ideal for gaming enterprises of all sizes. 

Indexers are responsible for matching GPU Containers with end-users. Their role is crucial for Aethir’s daily operations. The Indexers ensure all end-users receive computing power from the physically closest available Containers. 

Checker Nodes, also called Checkers, ensure the optimal service quality of all Containers in the Aethir network is maintained at all times. We have distributed 91,000+ Checker Nodes to over 20,000 community members in the largest Web3 node sale in history, marking the complete decentralization of Aethir’s core operating mechanics. Just like Aethir Edge operators, Checker node holders receive daily ATH rewards for their role in securing the Aethir network’s optimal quality of service.

With our massively scalable, decentralized GPU cloud, we can provide efficient services to gaming studios, publishers, and cloud gaming enterprises worldwide. Centralized cloud providers can only service the rapidly rising cloud gaming industry if they are constantly scaling up and onboarding millions of GPUs, which is impossible because of global GPU production capacity limits. Additionally, due to GPU underutilization, centralized clouds must charge increasing fees to stay competitive. On the other hand, Aethir’s decentralized cloud focuses on maximum GPU resource utilization to provide services at unbeatable prices while maintaining high service quality and security.

Maximizing GPU Cloud Gaming Efficiency with Aethir

GPUs are the most critical hardware component for AAA gaming and can’t be replaced. Due to the high prices of leading gaming GPU models, players in many global regions have limited access to top-tier games. With cloud gaming, millions of players can enjoy AAA games on low-end devices, but the remaining barrier is high cloud gaming service subscription fees. That’s because the leading cloud gaming providers use centralized cloud infrastructure, which is way more expensive than Aethir’s distributed GPU cloud.

By choosing Aethir’s DePIN stack, gaming companies can access a wider cloud gaming audience, especially in lower-income countries where users don’t have access to expensive gaming hardware and can’t afford high cloud gaming subscription fees. Aethir’s GPU cloud is a cost-effective solution that enables gaming companies to charge lower subscription fees, thus opening up a whole new market segment with over 1.2 billion cloud gamers needing an affordable cloud gaming alternative to leading service providers.