It’s not news to us that today’s world moves at a very fast pace, and the world of technology moves even faster. To try and keep up with the latest gaming industry trends we offer you here our gaming market research that covers what’s hyping currently and what will be all the rage in 2023.
From VR to NFTs we’ll try to cover and maybe anticipate what the future holds in the world of gaming, which seems to be growing and evolving quickly.
Gaming Market Research – What are the current trends in the gaming industry?
As of October 2022, there seem to be five major players when it comes to game development, and since it’s a 90 billion-dollar global industry and we’re a gaming recruitment agency it’s worth taking a look at the technologies big and small companies are investing their R&D money in.
What’s hyping in the video game business? VR and AR, NFTs, the Metaverse, Esports, and Cloud Gaming
While AR has been in the market for quite some time, it’s still a long way from making waves in the same manner as VR. Long behind us is the boom caused by Pokemon Go which had millions of players taking on the streets tryna catch them all! Not any major implementations of this technology have been as successful as that one.
On the other hand, VR has most companies hurrying to get to the streets renditions of the most beloved titles playable with a headset, this is the case of Doom, and some titles of the Resident Evil saga to name a few.
In addition to this, most headsets are decreasing in value so it becomes more readily available to the average gamer without requiring them to spend a lot of money on super-powerful rigs (unless we’re talking about the next-gen GPUs which are another topic altogether).
NFTs and the Blockchain are other types of technology that are currently booming, which we found in our gaming market research. There are a lot of companies trying to get into the crypto craziness that has surged over the last few years. While companies such as Square Enix and Ubisoft have already announced their plan to create NFTs to give players a chance to collect, swap and sell unique in-game items.
This is still a somewhat debated topic since most gamers see this as a waste of processing power having run their GPUs to get the Blockchain algorithms to be validated.
There are also play-to-earn games such as Axie Infinity which is a platform for gamers to earn cryptocurrencies for their dairy gaming sessions, combining the best of both worlds through an understandable platform, which can also be accessed by your smartphone.
Another major player that we found in our gaming market research in the gaming industry is Esports, which are being treated as any professional sport with psychologists, nutritionists, and other medical professionals to take care of both minds and bodies of the gamers, as well as tournaments, paid salaries, and sponsorships. It’s expected to grow twofold in the next year, going from being a billion-dollar industry in 2021 to two billion dollars in 2023.
The last trend I wanna talk about in this gaming market research is Cloud Gaming, and it’s a very forward concept since up until now a pretty big blockade for anyone looking to get into video games is their economic means. If a player can’t afford a good gaming console or PC is doomed to be left out.
This subscription-based system bypasses the need for expensive gear or constant upgrades since most computing takes place in a cloud environment. With only a Smart TV and a gadget such as a Google Chromecast or a Steam account and any device with Bluetooth technology, you’re good to go.
Gaming Market Research – What is the next big thing in the gaming industry?
Now that we’ve covered some of the biggest trends in our gaming market research it’s time to focus on the exciting new technologies the future holds.
Indie games make it big
It’s no news to anybody that there’s a big market for indie developers in the gaming industry, with platforms like Steam has grown so much over the past couple of years, many indie developers are being able to bring their games to the masses in an easier way.
But let’s consider Roblox, a gaming company in the United States, for a minute; it’s a platform to play and also a platform for developers to bring their visions to life. In fact, at the moment it’s the only platform that allows creators to do so. It’s a very user-friendly platform that, once installed is ready for the developer to begin creating environments with almost unlimited resources and tutorials.
Stray was another big hit for the gaming industry. It itself became redundant by its own plot, but the marketing department of BlueTwelve Studios did a great job by promoting and hyping in its own way a cat simulator game, which was a huge success for the whole Indie gaming community.
Gaming Industry Trends – What is the future of digital gaming?
So with all the bases we have covered in our gaming market research, one can imagine a future in the video gaming business where all these technologies meet and combine. Clearly, VR is making its way to mainstream gaming so a more immersive experience will be a very common thing in a few years. This immersive experience could be achieved via a full-body suit that transmits haptic feedback to the player, which some developers report being currently working on.
Another great contender we found in our gaming market research is mobile gaming. With younger gamers turning to mobile-first games and the decreasing trend in the use of expensive gaming consoles. This, combined with cloud-based gaming means that most games will be readily available on your smartphone.
Finally, we want to end our gaming market research by talking about the rapid development of technologies that facilitate gaming. With top engines like Unreal and Unity (among others) and graphic processors becoming more powerful, the result is an ever-evolving experience, rendering graphics faster and with loads of assets available. In fact, most next-gen consoles already support UE5 for example, and its new advancements such as Lumen and Nanite, they promise to revolutionize the gaming industry.
