The ever-evolving gaming industry is expected to see dramatic changes in the coming year. The development in the gaming industry greatly paced up during the Covid-19 pandemic when people were deprived of social interactions. That is when the gaming industry leveraged this opportunity to make the gaming experience more immersive in an attempt to make up for the lack of social interaction.
As per a report by Business Insider, Online gamers in India are estimated to grow from 360 million in 2020 to 510 million in 2022. Additionally, there are over 400 gaming start-ups at present that are accelerating the growth of the sector. In this article, we are listing down the top four trends that are expected to shape the gaming industry in the coming years.
1. Enhanced Experience through AR & VR
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology might still be in their infancy, but it is evolving at a very fast pace. Most gaming companies have started incorporating photorealistic graphics in the console and PC games. Developers are working towards making the gaming experience more immersive through Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for users, and COVID-19 has only sped it up.
As people were locked within the four walls of their homes, they turned to tech to compensate for the human interaction, and the AR gaming experience satiated that. Realizing its success, more game developers are now working towards devising games that feel real in their spirit.
After Pokemon Go, gaming companies are also utilizing GPS trackers to create a location-driven gaming experience in which the gameplay evolves and progresses using the player’s location. 2022 is expected to open new avenues for these immersive experiences, and because of that, all modern game design courses include VR in their syllabus. The rise of smartphone penetration has helped game developers tap into AR as a storytelling medium.
2. Game Remastering
Despite the constant technological advancements, there will always be a group of people who would bow down to the superiority of ancient games that were played in their times. This wish is expected to be fulfilled in the coming year owing to the huge demand for it.
Game developers have already started working on developing backward compatibility of the consoles of previous-generation games. They are working hard on the remastering of old games that have practically no suitable hardware. The remastering of games has speeded up since Disney gained immense popularity and a commendable box office return from transforming traditional classic cartoons into live-action films. If you sign-up for a game development course online, you will study these technologies that will enable game remastering.
3. Better Inclusivity
Owing to their popularity, video games have emerged to be one of the most effective mediums for awarding and sensitising common people on issues such as sexism, homophobia, racism etc. Therefore, video games are expected to get more inclusive in the near future.
Game designers and developers are also working towards making women and minorities more prominent in their game universe. Several games vouch for this fact. For example, ‘The last of us’ Part 2 was one of the biggest releases of 2021, and it features a strong female protagonist. Many games have even stopped offering traditional male or female gender options, such as Cyberpunk 2077.
This inclusivity and gender equality continue to get more prominent and popular in 2024 and the coming many years.
4. Cross-Platform Game options
One of the most crucial problems in the gaming industry for the past many years has been developing different games for different systems and consoles. However, this issue is expected to be resolved in the coming years. Technological advancement has made this possible. Most online professional courses are now shifting their focus towards developing cross-platform games.
With the assistance of new technology, Game developers are working towards devising codes for games that will be medium and console independently. This implies that the same game would be played on different consoles and mediums without any glitches.
So What’s Next?
The gaming industry is all set to take gamers by surprise with new developments and trends. Besides the above-mentioned trends, you can also expect to see blockchain-based gaming, cloud-based gaming, streamed gaming, and a rise in multiplayer mobile gaming.
To get aligned, it is very important to get pepped up for the upcoming trends. If you are a game enthusiast and want to make a career in the gaming industry, get enrolled in the game design program by Hero Vired.
Hero Vired offers a certification program in Game Design and Introduction to Unity in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that allows you to benefit from the world-class instructor-led, engagement-driven, industry-relevant programs from within the comfort of your homes.
You get a practical hands-on learning experience with us, which is imperative to ace the gaming industry. Additionally, at Hero Vired, you get to benefit from gamified and interactive learning along with discussion forums and community interactions.