The video game landscape is changing rapidly. AI-powered coding, photo-realistic visuals, and cross-platform play are some of the many forces changing how we play video games.
The future of gaming is bright, mobile, and inclusive. People who’ve always felt they couldn’t afford gaming due to expensive consoles now have the option to play through cloud gaming. On the other hand, Twitch is no longer a platform for showcasing the most powerful eSports games alone.
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In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the different forces propelling the growth of video games. Let’s get started.
Generative AI
Generative AI is the technology some people believe will replace video game developers. Truth be told, AI won’t eliminate coders. It will just make their work easier. Generative AI speeds up the video game development process in several ways.
For example, you can feed a software program with an image, one line of code, or a short video clip. And AI will respond with the code required to turn your image into code. It could turn a short paragraph into an app, thereby, shortening the game development process tremendously.
Another way generative AI will transform video games is through advancing Non-Playable Characters. Developers are using AI to spice up dialogues in video games. AI also improves the visuals, walking styles, and behavior of NPCs to appear more human-like.
That said, generative AI is far from perfect. By delegating dialogue creation to AI, developers lose control over what NPC says. They could also lose control of open-world storylines unless they work closely with the technology.
Esports and Professional Streaming
Esports is no longer a niche section for unemployed college students. It is a booming multi-billion industry backed by global giants like Toyota, Coca Cola and YouTube.
Electronic Sports have a global audience of roughly 500 million people. And more people keep showing interest in this industry. That means there’s a lot of money to be made in eSports.
Video game fans with a passion for seeing the industry grow can make their money by creating gaming content on Twitch. They can monetize their platforms through monthly subscriptions, affiliate marketing, and adverts.
Another option is to play video games competitively. You must be extremely talented to make money this way. Even then, keep in mind the average career of a pro gamer is only five years.
Luckily, you don’t have to find a day job after retiring from pro gaming. You could venture into the lucrative world of Twitch streaming. If you grow your brand well enough, you could collaborate with high-paying brands and make a living through endorsements.
Cloud Gaming
Cloud gaming is all the rage. And it is easy to see why. Cloud gaming is revolutionizing online gaming in a way few inventions have. For a long time, you needed a console to play your favorite games.
Now, you can play sophisticated video games like Overwatch 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and CS: GO using a simple foldable laptop. The explanation is that some cloud service companies connect you with a powerful gaming machine remotely.
Then you can use this gaming machine to play all your favorite games. The service isn’t necessarily expensive. Nvidia’s Geforce Now costs $9.99 per month. Xbox charges slightly more at $14.99, but it offers a much bigger game library.
Google had attempted to profit in this niche through Stadia. But it closed the platform earlier last year after failing to impress its target audience. Cloud gaming isn’t yet popular enough to challenge consoles.
One of the reasons is the technical configurations required. You need fast and stable Internet connections. Most service providers ask you to use wired Internet. You might also need to upgrade your monitor for 4K streams or a controller recommended by your provider.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Many video game experts are tapping VR to be pivotal in changing the video game landscape in the next few years. The main reason is that developers are investing so much in VR content and very little in Augmented Reality.
Sure, you can find a small list of AR-enabled video games on Google and Apple Stores. Overall, most gamers are excited about Virtual Reality and its capabilities. VR immerses you into a different world.
It gives you a virtual experience in which you can interact with video game characters and features. All you need is to own VR hardware. That includes a PC or console that can handle the technology.
Although not every modern video game supports VR, there are enough of these games in the market. Some of them—Space Pirate Trainer and No Man’s Sky—have been around for years. Others are new and packed with the latest technological features.
Diversity in Gaming
If you play video games a lot, you must have noticed that new versions of your favorite video games have diverse characters. The main protagonist is no longer young, male and white.
Video games give you options to choose a female or non-binary protagonist. You could also select the race of your preferred avatars. Increasing diversity in gaming was only a matter of time.
For an industry with billions of fans, developers would be wrong to think their target audience wasn’t diverse. While video game developers are now creating games that promote inclusivity, different demographics tend to play specific games a lot.
The majority of female gamers love mobile games. Certain multiplayer games are popular in Asia while others are a hit in North America. Against that backdrop, developers are working hard to customize their games for specific audiences.
In Conclusion
The video game sector is constantly changing. Unlike in the past, coding and graphics design technologies are not the only forces changing the industry. Now, things like changing demographics, cloud gaming, and VR are disrupting the video game sector.
