Trends come and go but the gaming industry is constantly skyrocketing. In 2023, more than three billion people played video games. The entire industry generated $176 billion in revenues—55% of this money was generated through mobile gaming.
While many gaming trends are short-lived, some of them are popular enough to influence the industry’s growth significantly. In this article, we’ll outline trends projected to shape the future of gaming. Let’s get started.
Cloud Gaming
Gone are the days when every gaming platform had different games from competing devices. In this era of cloud gaming, you can play your favorite games on different platforms. The best part is that you don’t need to install these games.
Thanks to cloud gaming, you can access most games online. All you need is to pay a monthly premium on a service like Nvidia GeForce Now or PlayStation Plus Premium.
Cloud gaming is not yet available globally. However, experts believe it is the future of gaming. It makes sense cloud gaming could mushroom in the future. Online gaming platforms allow you to play countless games without the need to invest in expensive hardware and software.
Millions of people can’t afford expensive gaming PCs and consoles. But they love to play video games. That’s where cloud gaming comes in. Once the service becomes affordable for the majority of players, on-demand gaming will become the norm.
Game Streaming
Streaming is now a major pastime for millions of gaming fans from around the world. Amazon’s Twitch is the largest streaming platform with more than 50 million monthly customers. YouTube ranks second while Facebook is third.
Watching other people play games is similar to watching sports. It’s entertaining. This is especially true if a streamer is highly talented and knows how to entertain their fans.
Interestingly, streaming is no longer a specialty for video game players. Twitch is home to more than 1000 casinos, food, chatting, music, and beauty channels. Pretty much anyone can start a channel on the platform as long as you know how to attract an audience.
The reason why all these new categories are popping up is that streaming is an excellent moneymaking venture. Top streamers on Twitch make six-figure salaries through subscriptions. They make even more money by endorsing major brands.
Blockchain Gaming
Blockchain is yet another technology shaping the future of gaming. The technology started in 2009 when a pseudo-anonymous person named Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin.
Initially, everyone thought blockchain was a platform to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions only. Over time, developers discovered they could use the Blockchain to create incredible products.
For example, developers can build 100% fair games of chance. Because the blockchain is transparent, anyone can verify the fairness of a game like Wheel of fortune slot machine. Provably fairness is injecting a level of fairness never experienced in the casino sector.
Speaking of fairness, the blockchain is helping level the playfield for video games. No longer are they mere customers in a multi-billion gaming industry. They can now own, trade, and sell in-game assets such as skins.
This works through play-to-earn games, a subset of blockchain games first popularized in 2021. Play to earn games store in-game characters and assets as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). As a player, you have total control of your NFTs.
Esports
Contrary to popular belief, eSports didn’t appear out of the blue. The industry sprung up in the 1970s. It didn’t take off back then. Instead, it remained a small niche for enthusiasts until a decade ago, when it exploded into the mainstream.
Esports is now a $2 billion industry with 500M+ fans and more than 50 leagues hoping to turn it into a major sport. For the uninitiated, eSports revolve around competitive gaming.
Fortnite, FIFA23, CS; GO, League of Legends, StarCraft II, and Call of Duty are some of the biggest eSports games. These franchises have popular leagues through which talented youngsters compete to win trophies and monetary rewards.
Similar to popular sports leagues, many eSports leagues have teams located in different cities. Some of them have international fans who watch major competitions through Twitch.
VR and AR
Let’s face it. We all thought Virtual Reality would be a supported feature in every video game by now. But that’s not the case. In fact, some of the biggest video games today don’t bother to offer VR support.
So, why are experts convinced VR and AR will be a part of gaming in the future? For starters, players love VR and AR games. The only problem is that the best VR headsets are unaffordable.
Meta sells its cheapest headsets at $500. Apple plans to sell its VR headgear for up to $3500. VR gaming would be much more popular if these headsets cost the same price as a pair of headphones.
Another reason VR and AR are not yet mainstream ideas is that AR games don’t have such a high demand. Augmented reality limits your experience to a screen. And this can be off-putting to some players. This leads to a low demand for AR games.
That said, most experts believe we will witness more VR games in the future. AR might take a backseat due to its lack of demand. But Virtual Reality games will be around for a long time.
Mobile Gaming
Mobile gaming keeps growing. Not so long ago, the industry was a small subset of gaming associated with casual games. Now, technology has turned mobile gaming into the biggest platform for gamers.
Not only can you play sophisticated games on your iPhone, but you can also play eSports content on a fairly affordable Android device. Mobile gaming is projected to skyrocket in the next decade thanks to an increasing demand for smartphones and fast WiFi.
Another reason mobile gaming might explode is that the industry is attracting cloud gaming platforms. As already mentioned, on-demand gaming allows people to play advanced games using simple devices.
Soon, you’ll no longer need to buy a gaming phone. If you have to buy an expensive smartphone, it’s not to access the best games. These games will become available on virtually every device.
