The video games industry is experiencing many innovations and trends as gaming companies look for new ways to attract and retain customers. Competition is getting fierce for established companies, and some new products and services have started hitting the market.
All these things indicate that developers need to adapt to the latest gaming trends to succeed in their efforts because what worked in the past may not work in the following year.
So, to keep up with the ever-changing world of video games, here are the top gaming industry trends for 2020 and beyond.
A great shift towards streaming games due to cloud computing
Cloud technology has proven itself to be one of the biggest disruptors in the video games industry over the past few years. The cloud-based gaming services are behind the rise of a new model – the subscription-based model. These models offer tremendous ease of use and accessibility to gamers across the globe. Users can log into their accounts, select a game from the library of available games and start playing right away.
Gone are the days when players needed high-quality hardware and it took hours to download a game. Cloud-based models have made it seamless for players to access and play their favourite games. Hence, it’s no surprise that cloud computing has shaken the video games industry to its core. By 2023, the cloud gaming market is expected to surpass the $1 billion mark.
The advent of 5G
Of all the trends that are going to transform the gaming industry, 5G is one of the biggest. The low-latency delivered by the 5G network means that developers can easily offload most of the heavy computational work to data centres running the latest hardware. With 5G, players can stream their gaming content just like video streaming services Amazon Prime or Netflix.
A major advantage for software providers being opened by 5G gaming is the capability to bring new games to the online gambling market, such as free Roulette, Live Blackjack and Live Baccarat. Indeed, these titles are currently available in almost all online casinos, but the 5G network will only offer a seamless and more immersive gaming experience.
New console hype
With the major gaming companies, including Sony and Microsoft planning to launch their new consoles during the 2020 holiday season, there’s going to be a lot of excitement and announcement in the gaming industry this year. For many generations, both Sony and Microsoft have competed against each other in terms of specifications and console capabilities. And with new consoles slated for release so closely together, this year will be no exception. Nintendo, on the contrary, has announced that it is less likely to release new consoles this year, but then the Japanese company has been content to do its own thing. So, we can expect other consoles too.
The rise of independent developers
From Twine to Amazon’s AAA-caliber Lumberyard, all kinds of developer platforms are now available for aspiring designers. This software access and unprecedented low barriers have meant a great indie game flood of the market.
