Gone are the days when people used to think video games were just for kids.
The video game industry has seen immense growth in the last decade. It has become as mainstream as movies and sports.
With the introduction of new interactive trends, you can experience first-hand the experience of playing a game through VR, or play together with your long-distance friends through cross-platform play.
The collaboration of new technology trends with the gaming world has revolutionized the whole gaming industry. Trends like AR, VR, AI-driven game designs, online casino,
physics engines, etc, are setting a new standard.
In this article, we will discuss nine such trends in detail, so stick to the end to learn how new trends impact the gaming industry.
In current times, AI algorithms are being widely used in designing video games and characters. This enhances the overall gaming experience for the players.
AI integration in game design brings numerous benefits for both gamers and developers.
Gamers get to experience more personalized gameplay, intelligent NPCs, and dynamic content generation.
For developers, AI facilitates and automates certain aspects of game designing such as content creation, playtesting, and level designing, saving their time and effort to focus on more crucial aspects of game development.
Developers are realizing the potential of AI in the gaming world. AI can become a significant tool to revolutionize video game development, improve player engagement, and optimize business operations.
Metaverse integration allows you to enter a 3D digital world via your computer, mobile phone, or virtual reality sets. Once you enter, you will be able to look, move around, interact with others, and operate in the same way you do in real life.
Metaverse is like a collaboration of virtual and physical worlds. Although the metaverse is still new, it has put its foot on different platforms to fit in according to the user’s specific needs.
The opportunities within this space are growing day by day. Big names like Disney, Roblox, Sandbox, and Microsoft are exploring the potential of the metaverse.
Augmented reality helps combine virtual game environments with the player’s physical environment.
AR Games first illustrated its potential with the development of the Pokémon GO game in 2016, which became a global hit soon after its release, with millions of people playing it on their mobile phones and experiencing their dream of living in the Pokémon world.
Its success led to the renewed interest of companies in the AR gaming industry.
Now, major companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are heavily investing in AR technology to launch better innovations in the future.
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are digital assets stored on blockchains. Usually, they are used to represent different items in the games, such as weapons, skins, and characters. They cannot be copied or changed.
These blockchain elements allow players to trade in-game items with cryptocurrency, and represent in-game items with NFTs.
This technology monetizes the game, allowing players to earn and trade with each other with in-game money. Some games even allow real money to be used in these games, but this is considered illegal in some countries, where such games are seen as akin to gambling.
Cloud gaming allows you to stream a game directly on a device, unlike the traditional way, which requires expensive consoles or gaming PCs.
The heavy processing work is done on remote servers, which enables users to play on their preferred device, whether it is a mobile phone, tablet, or a low-end computer. All the intricate computations are handled by the cloud, helping the game run smoothly.
This has helped users experience quality games without spending considerable amounts.
This helped developers to push their boundaries of creativity without worrying about the limitations of user hardware.
Now, gamers can play together on different gaming platforms with the feature of cross-platform play. It doesn’t matter if you and your friends are playing on PlayStation, Xbox, or a pc, you can still play with and against each other as long as the game you are playing supports cross-platform play.
Cross-platform play greatly improves accessibility by allowing gamers to play on different platforms, allowing them engaging and interactive gameplay.
Moreover, it also assists in player-driven content creation, empowering the community to collaborate and grow.
The physics engine is a significant element of the gaming world. It enhances realism and immersion, improving gameplay and fun, saving time and effort in development, and boosting performance and stability. It bridges the gap between the real and virtual worlds.
Box 2D is a popular physics engine used in many popular games such as Angry Bird, and Cut the Rope. Box 3D is another popular system used for creating games like GTA V and Just Cause 2.
Esports or electronic sports bring the thrill, excitement, and competition of sports in an online arena. It involves a variety of games such as League of Legends and Dota 2, played diligently by professional online players and having an audience of millions.
The Esports market is flourishing, with viewership in the hundreds of millions for top events and revenue generated in billions.
The esports market is thriving and expected to grow even more, as can be observed from the above graph.
Procedurally generated content or PCG is an AI technique used to develop games with minimum human output. It is often used to create visually interesting and accurate spaces in video games.
Usually, in video games, PGC is used to create randomized games, maps, levels, characters, and other facets that are unique for each play-through.
DO YOU KNOW?
As of 2024, there are approximately 3.32 billion gamers globally, and the gaming market is expected to generate around 241.1 USD this year.
The gaming industry market is prospering with an increase in gamers and their audience. The new trends in the gaming world are attracting more attention globally.
From playing together with friends to entering the fantasy world of a game, technology has played a significant role and introduced various trends in the gaming world.
After the significant surge observed in the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers are still on the rise, and with the introduction of new trends, it is expected to grow even more and become more mainstream in the future.
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