Centralized Servers

And What Makes Cloud Gaming Scale Instead.

Despite its promise, pixel streaming today remains constrained by centralized infrastructure. Current cloud gaming services typically run on large data centers – massive clusters of GPUs in a few geographic locations. This centralized model introduces several problems:

• High Costs and Inefficiency: Data centers are expensive to build and operate. Cloud providers must invest enormous capital in specialized hardware, cooling systems, warehouse-sized facilities, and electricity. These costs translate to high hourly rates for GPU cloud instances (often on the order of $1–2 per hour for high-end GPUs). The infrastructure is also often underutilized outside of peak demand, making it economically inefficient.

• Scaling Limitations: Demand for GPU power is exploding (for graphics, AI, robotics, and more), but scaling up data centers is slow and capital-intensive. There are physical limits to how quickly you can add server capacity and expand facilities. Central providers struggle to react quickly to surges in demand, and they tend to over-provision (build for peak usage) which leads to waste the rest of the time.

• Distance Constraints: With only a handful of big server hubs, many users are located far from the nearest data center. Distance increases ping. If the server is halfway around the world, even the fastest internet can’t overcome the laws of physics – the result is higher latency and a noticeably laggier experience. Truly low latency gameplay (<30 ms) requires servers to be very close to players, which centralized platforms have difficulty achieving globally.

• Environmental Impact: Large data centers consume huge amounts of power and emit significant carbon emissions (both through energy use and the heat they generate). They require continuous cooling and maintenance. The cycle of constantly upgrading and replacing hardware also leads to electronic waste. In short, the centralized cloud model is not very environmentally sustainable.

• Ownership and Control: Only a few tech giants own most of the cloud gaming infrastructure. This concentration of control means developers and users are beholden to pricing and policies set by those providers. It also stifles innovation – smaller creators can’t easily build alternatives, and features roll out at the pace of these large companies. Moreover, having to go through centralized servers can introduce points of failure and censorship/approval that are outside the community’s control.

At the same time, a vast amount of computing power is actually available in the world but sits idle. Notably, 50–75% of global GPU capacity remains unused in consumer devices at any given moment. Millions of gaming PCs and consoles in homes have powerful graphics cards that are turned off or running at low load when their owners aren’t playing. This represents an enormous pool of latent hardware potential. If even a fraction of this idle power could be tapped for cloud gaming, it would effectively double or triple the available compute resources for gaming globally. And because this hardware is already bought and paid for by consumers, using it is highly cost-effective – essentially leveraging existing assets instead of building new ones.

In summary, centralized cloud gaming faces a two-sided problem: underutilization on the edges and scarcity (plus high costs) in the center. On one side, we have idle GPUs in homes worldwide. On the other, we have overloaded, pricey data centers that can’t easily meet global demand or low-latency needs. This mismatch suggests a clear solution: move the cloud gaming workloads away from the center and out toward the edge – in other words, decentralize it.

This is where YOM’s cloud gaming network enters the game.

Why Decentralization Matters

Instead of relying on big data centers, YOM utilizes the untapped GPU power in everyday gaming rigs and PCs around the world. Any owner of a capable PC can become a host (node) in the network, streaming games to others when they’re not using their machine.

This creates a truly serverless pixel streaming model – game sessions are hosted on a distributed network of player-run nodes, rather than in a few giant server farms. There is no “central” data center in this model at all and by extension offers clear advantages over the status quo:

• Drastic Cost Reduction: By recycling existing hardware instead of building new data centers, YOM eliminates capital expenditures (no expensive server farms to build or GPUs to purchase) and slashes operating costs. The cost to run a streamed gaming session drops from roughly $1–2 per hour (typical cloud GPU rental) to around $0.10 per hour or less. That’s up to a 95% cost savings, which benefits both developers (lower server bills) and players (lower subscription costs or even free-to-play streaming supported by ads or sponsorships).

• Global Reach with Local Performance: A decentralized network can naturally spread out to wherever gamers are. Instead of a few regions served by data centers, thousands of nodes run in homes across many countries. YOM’s network can match a player with a nearby node (often within the same city or region), drastically reducing ping. This delivers ultra-low latency (often under 30 ms) and a responsive experience that feels indistinguishable from playing on a local console. And because there are many nodes, if one fails or slows down, another can take over – providing resilience and reliability through sheer numbers.

• Economic & Environmental Empowerment: Decentralization shifts the power (and profit) from large corporations back to individual gamers and hardware owners. Instead of paying cloud giants, developers can pay the community of node operators. Gamers who invest in good PCs can earn passive income by renting out their idle GPU time. This model not only democratizes the cloud – it also significantly reduces environmental impact. We’re using electricity and hardware that have already been produced, rather than continuously building new servers. By some estimates, reusing existing GPUs in this way could cut the carbon footprint of cloud gaming by a wide margin, since we’re maximizing the utility of devices that would otherwise sit idle.