We always knew that gaming was popular. But maybe we didn’t know just how popular it is. In fact, it’s estimated that there are very nearly 3 billion gamers worldwide. What’s more, the industry is growing at a huge pace and by over 12% a year. So if predictions are correct, it’s set to be $470 billion a year by the start of the next decade.
But these kinds of figures don’t just happen by themselves. The industry works ceaselessly to bring new games and new advances for players to give them the very best of gaming experiences.
Unsurprisingly, it’s the technology that’s behind the games that drives this on as much as anything, along with annual event like the amazing Black Friday deals on consoles and other hardware that comes around every year.
So here are six different aspects of tech that are really making a difference.
Augmented reality
It’s always been the aim of developers to make playing their games a truly immersive experience, one in which players can literally lose themselves. So the arrival of augmented reality have been exactly what’s been needed.
Augmented reality integrates the visual and audio content within the user’s environment in real time. It is able to use the players existing environment to enhance the experience, the live AR game’s technology is typically available on devices like smartphones, tablets and portable gaming systems. Not only is AR becoming more and more affordable, the arrival of 5G networks is sure to be a boon allowing smoother play and even more detail in the games. The technology has already made it possible to produce a great list of titles including Jurassic World Alive, Harry Potter: Wizard’s Unite and Angry Birds AR, with plenty more titles in the pipeline.
Live streaming
One way the online casino industry, in particular, has successfully attempted to make their particular experience more immersive has been to introduce the “live” versions of many of their games. Using sophisticated tech that can digitise and stream live action to players’ devices, this comes very close to offering the authentic casino experience. The live casino game’s technology means that games of roulette, blackjack and baccarat can be run by live dealers – and players can even chat to them online. The logical next step will be for this sector to also move into VR, and it can’t be very far away now.
Cloud gaming
It had to happen before very long. Having stood back and seen how the DVD and Blu-ray market has been affected by live video streaming technology like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, the games industry is now catching up.
The great benefit for players is that their monthly subscription gives them access to thousands of games of every kind. And with big players like Apple, Sony and Microsoft involved, the selection is sure to continue to rise with today’s $244 million a year industry set to become over nine times bigger by 2030.
Artificial Intelligence
The robots may not be about to take over, but artificial intelligence is set to become a far more critical element for all gamers. That’s because it’s now being built into more and more games where it learns from a player’s style and abilities and can adapt the game to suit.
It also has an important part to play in enhancing the roles of NPCs in games. So rather than simply being background characters, AI will make them play a far more active role. In turn, this adds an extra layer of interest and complexity into every game where it’s used.
NFTs
From being virtually unheard of a couple of years ago, non-fungible tokens have become big news. It’s mainly been multi-million dollar art sales that have hit the headlines but they are also having an increasing role to play in video games. Here they can be used as rewards which, in the future, may even be trade-able with other game players.
Other applications could include NFT’s allowing players access to higher levels of a game only once they have earned or bought them. Yes, it’s very early days, but we can be sure we’ll be hearing a lot about them in the future.
Voice recognition
Being able to play a game without a controller of any kind has long been a topic of debate. And now several games are already experimenting with voice recognition.
It certainly creates a great deal more work for developers who also have to integrate large amounts of speech data into a game. Plus, it has to recognise different accents, dialects and even languages to work smoothly.
But the potential to change the gaming experience is huge. Plus the benefits it would bring for the visually impaired and disabled people, normally sidelined by the industry, hardly need to be underlined.
So, as you see, there is plenty of technology contributing to gamers’ continued entertainment and delight. Add to this whole new generations of games being created and there’s never been a better time to be a gamer.