Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says the global cloud-based gaming market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.9% from now through 2015.

One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing audience for social media games and mobile games, says the research group. The Global Cloud-based Gaming market has also been witnessing the increasing adoption of next-generation technologies. However, the requirement of high broadband speed could pose a challenge to the growth of this market, according to Research and Markets.

According to their report: ''Cloud-based gaming provides large opportunities to publishers for promotions and marketing. One such opportunity is the free-to-play business model, which is also known as the freemium model. It consists of the consumer playing the core loop of a game for free, but then eventually paying for virtual goods and currency via micro-transactions.

"Freemium is the most productive business model in the present age of digital distribution. Apple opened the doors for this model in the App Store allowing free apps to include in-app purchases. Also, the freemium business model is aimed to convert free users to premium paid users. This is a significant trend in the Global Cloud-based Gaming market.''

The audience for social media games and mobile games is different from the PC or console-based gaming audience. Social media gaming and mobile gaming audiences require an instant streaming of video games, which is possible only through cloud-based gaming services.

Further, the report states that the requirement of a high broadband speed is one of the major challenges in the market. Several countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and Eastern and Central Europe are not equipped with high broadband connections, which means that gamers can't access cloud-based gaming in these regions which is also hindering the growth of the market.