# A New Dynamic Game-Based Pricing Model for Cloud Environment
## 1 Introduction  
Over the past few decades, cloud computing has emerged as a new technology in the information technology industry [1]. This technology provides users with many resources and services based on user demand [2]. Cloud Computing (CC) services are offered in three categories: infrastructure as a service, platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Google Docs, Google App Engine, and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon Ec2) are examples of the most popular cloud computing services [3]. The complete list of abbreviations is provided in Abbreviations at the back matter. The concept of CC has become increasingly popular among users due to its remarkable features, such as its exceptional computing power, its affordability advantages, and its remarkable adaptability. Users have the ability to utilize cloud computing resources without the need to invest in costly hardware and software. Instead, they can simply pay for rental services based on the terms outlined in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) provided by the cloud service providers [4]. The SLA is formulated as a formal commitment between the user and the provider to compensate the users if the provider fails to provide the expected level of service [5]. Despite the advancements in cloud computing technology over the years, there remain numerous challenges that must be confronted. The services provided by the cloud providers are not free, and customers have to pay a fee based on the amount of resources and the length of time they are used. The cloud pricing plan has a significant impact on the system's economic benefits. Pricing policies in the cloud are in two fixed and dynamic types. Fixed pricing is a tactic wherein a price is set and upheld for services throughout a particulartimeframe. This price can be determined based on hours of resource usage, gigabytes of data storage, etc. Usage-based and subscription-based are examples of fixed pricing strategies [2]. In the context of dynamic pricing, individuals are charged for the services they receive in accordance with the specific features of the service, the characteristics of the user, and the interplay between the supply and demand within the market. Although a dynamic pricing strategy imposes more computational overhead, it also has more economic benefits [6]. Resource allocation and pricing have consistently posed significant challenges for researchers in the cloud, owing to its intricate, extensive, and fiercely competitive landscape. Cloud providers aim to enhance their resource utilization while ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty in order to maximize their revenue. The aim of this study is to introduce a just pricing approach derived from game theory. The suggested approach determines the price by considering the users' resource usage and the expenses incurred by the providers, such as the costs of purchasing and maintaining resources. Additionally, the proposed pricing method takes into account some novel factors that significantly influence the operational costs in cloud computing. These factors include the amount of power consumed for each user's request, the likelihood of successful job execution, and the interactions between virtual machines when they are allocated on the same resource. The game-based pricing method also considers the market supply and demand to provide a more precise and fairer price. Game theory offers a structured framework for mathematically representing and articulating decision problems involving multiple agents. This theory provides a platform to examine different strategies of decision-making agents and determine their optimal decisions [7]. Various formats have been proposed to model a decision problem in this theory, two of the most widely used being static and dynamic games. A game is defined as a trio of decision-making factors, their set of possible strategies, and the profit functions of each one. In games that are static, the decision-makers lack knowledge of each other's decisions.