Gaming continues with an accelerated evolution and significant business growth. The incredible virtual worlds are receiving thousands of real-time players, becoming another avenue for networking, as well as entertainment. This is just impossible to ignore.
The gaming industry is one of the most dynamic and innovative sectors, constantly evolving and adapting to new technologies, consumer preferences, and market opportunities.
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Newzoo forecast the game market will grow to $217.9 billion in 2023.
Newzoo 2020 Global Game Market |
Cloud and gaming
There was a time, not too long ago, when you would buy your games and play them by inserting them into your console or computer. As more gamers demand access to high-quality games on any device, anywhere, anytime, cloud gaming will become a mainstream option for delivering games over the internet.
Games are now becoming available via subscription model. An example of this is the Microsoft Xbox game pass and Xbox Live Gold.
But aside from subscriptions, games can be accessed via cloud data centres, making it less of a need to own expensive hardware at home. I mean, even Netflix is offering games.
Metaverse
Some may say that before Metaverse became a trending subject, gamers were, and are, used to get together in the virtual world. What we are experiencing is an evolution of such when even music concerts are making their way into Fortnite (i.e. Marshmello, Ariana Grande, and many others).
This is just one manifestation of what is coming as gaming companies are re-evaluating their platforms, and how user experiences will continue transforming the industry.
Many will continue to come to the different platforms for the purpose of driving exotic fast cars, playing FIFA (and many other sport games), exploring amazing kingdoms with Mario or partnering with Link when becoming a legend within Zelda… AND there will be others that will come to many of these worlds for the purposes of socializing.
Extended Reality (XR)
XR brings together:
- Virtual Reality (VR)
- Augmented Reality (AR)
- Mixed Reality (MR)
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XR brings the immersive experience for gamers. XR gaming is expected to become more mainstream in 2023.
Just VR alone provides the immersive gaming experience that gamers are looking for. The moment a player wears those VR headsets they get transported to a place that allows them to interact with their surroundings (digitally speaking), making the experience engaging and emotional. VR provides accessibility and inclusivity to games removing the barrier of traditional controllers for those that may encounter them challenging because of a physical disability. Perhaps VR may introduce gaming to even that audience that previously showed no interest in video games.
Minecraft |
Blockchain
“Play-to-earn” games that reward gamers with cryptocurrencies. Here are some of those companies working in this space:
- Axie infinity
- Enter the Gotchiverse with Aavegotchi
- Crabada
eSports
The competitive video gaming industry (aka eSports) continues with its popularity. This space goes beyond your average gaming time spent. It is a place to socialize virtually, and a place for content.
The broadcasting of eSports is at an all-time high. Twitch, as a live-streaming platform where content creators broadcast video games, as well as other content, has on average 7.7 million active streamers each month.
Mobile gaming
Mobile gaming is already a huge segment of the gaming industry, with more than 2.7 billion mobile gamers worldwide in 2021. Mobile gaming is expected to grow even further in 2023, as more people adopt smartphones and tablets as their primary gaming devices.
Conclusion
Gaming has been an ever-growing business. Comparing the old days, when using “floppy disks” to load the games into the computer, to where we are today, it is just an amazing journey.
As everything, you need to enjoy it responsibly in the right doses. Always make sure you find balance between the virtual and the real world. Every now and then, disconnect and spend time out with others.