This is a list of ten significant trends currently affecting the video game industry. With the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the gaming scene will substantially change over the next 4-5 years. However, next-generation hardware isn’t the only significant gaming industry trend to keep an eye on. In fact, there are several other notable trends that anyone involved in the video game industry should be aware of.
Real Money Gaming
Real money gaming is another rapidly growing trend. Real money gaming is expanding, and new types are emerging. The recent phenomenon of play-to-earn crypto games and the old classic of online mobile slots are two of the most popular types. Gamers appreciate the opportunity to play while potentially earning money. Experts predict that real money gaming will continue to grow and capture a large portion of the market in the coming years.
New Game Design
Feeling first design starts with the emotions the developers want players to feel. From there, they create the mechanics, gameplay, and story. It’s a departure from the traditional game development process. Instead, it’s all about eliciting unique and moving emotional responses from players.
The Metaverse
While Facebook and Microsoft brag about their plans to create immersive, permanent online worlds for business and entertainment, millions of gamers are already accustomed to congregating in virtual worlds to play everything from chess and bridge to blowing each other up with homing missiles. The concept of in-game worlds is expanding to include various forms of entertainment, such as Fortnite music concerts, by 2022.
Growth of esports
Esports is an organised gaming competition between professional players and teams, which is a subset of GVC content. While traditional sporting events were postponed for months due to the pandemic, esports continued with online tournaments, gaining media attention and viewers. In 2022, there will be more than 29.6 million monthly US esports viewers, accounting for more than 49.9 per cent of all GVC viewers.
More Games
This year is shaping up to be the biggest in gaming history, not only in terms of spending but also in content across console, PC, and mobile platforms. Delays caused by COVID have resulted in one of the most crowded and exciting gaming release calendars in recent memory.
Next Gen
While the first generation of major console games tends to hint at the capabilities of the new hardware, the second generation begins to nail it. Across the board, we’ll see developers use their increased experience to experiment with trendy effects like ray-tracing and AI-enhanced animation in novel ways.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions are becoming increasingly popular among gamers, particularly among top-grossing games. We anticipate that more and more games will offer subscriptions as a monetization model, making this a market trend worth noting. However, it’s important to note that subscriptions are typically used as an additional monetization model alongside in-app purchases.
Cloud Gaming
It will be a pivotal year for cloud gaming. Cloud gaming has been trying to prove itself for years. Unfortunately, it stumbled in 2021 when Google Stadia shut down its in-house game development efforts. As a result, many of the promises of streaming games over the internet remained unfulfilled. In the future, the industry will need to find ways to make cloud gaming more appealing or simply abandon it until the technology improves.
Diversity
With the rise of mobile gaming, modern gaming attracts players of all ages, genders, sexualities, and ethnic backgrounds. However, the variety of players has not been matched by the diversity of representation in gaming characters thus far. There has been a significant push to correct this in 2020 and 2021; we are not there yet, but things are improving.
New Genres
Unless you’re a die-hard gamer, you’ve probably never heard of the term “roguelike.” This game is a subgenre of role-playing games based on fantasy stories. These are games with randomised elements and steep difficulty curves, which result in quick deaths but encourage players to try again.
