Google is one of the newest competitors in the Internet-service-provider field. The online giant is beginning to roll out Google Fiber, a service that offers a mind-blowing 1,000 megabits per second to customers, a download speed 100 times faster than the average broadband connection. And Google is offering these ridiculous speeds for only $70 a month. While Fiber provides some obvious upsides to consumers, gaming, in particular, could also benefit from the service.

In multiplayer titles, especially twitch-based ones like Call of Duty, having a great connection can give you an edge over the competition. Faster Internet speeds provide a lower ping, which makes your gameplay experience potentially smoother. Of course, this advantage will only hold while when these high speeds are not available to everyone. When they are, a whole new world of possibilities will open for multiplayer gaming.

With an embarrassment of bandwidth riches such as those found with Google Fiber, developers could do some remarkable things with multiplayer and massively multiplayer titles. Imagine raiding with a group and being able to simultaneously video chat with everyone while experiencing no lag. Studios could go the extra mile and sync your character’s lips to your actual voice in real time. And these ideas are just the tip of the iceberg.

Google Fiber could change the industry beyond multiplayer gaming. Faster download speeds could vastly accelerate the trend toward digital distribution. Retailers like GameStop and Best Buy would have no way to stop services like Steam and Origin that would suddenly be able to offer true on-demand gaming.

Currently, Google is letting people preregister across the country for Fiber. Once the entire country has access to this type of bandwidth, a new era will hit the gaming industry.

Originally posted on leviathyn.com.