The progression made by the gaming industry in recent years is undoubtedly one of the biggest success stories of the new millennium.
What started off as a niche activity centred around limited technological capabilities has become a sprawling global behemoth worth billions of dollars.
With new innovations hitting the sector at a mind-boggling rate, gaming will likely continue on an upward curve for many years to come.
With that in mind, we take a closer look at the future gaming trends we believe are well worth monitoring.
Blockchain gaming
Blockchain gaming gained plenty of traction during the past year and this is expected to continue as traditional gaming projects incorporate Web 3.0 features.
iGaming platforms like Ignition’s Bitcoin Poker will become increasingly popular among Web 3.0 enthusiasts, as more resources are ploughed into their development.
Web 3.0 gaming and metaverse projects have had billions of dollars pumped into them over the past couple of years as investors wise up to the possibilities.
One of the biggest challenges facing blockchain gaming is overcoming onboarding challenges, poor gameplay experience and a lack of user knowledge about the concept.
However, Web 3.0 expert Robbie Ferguson has insisted that the landscape will look very different as new innovations hit the market.
“$18B has been poured into web3 gaming in the last 2 years, but development lags behind funding significantly,” he wrote on his official Twitter page.
“Many will go live in 2023 as they hit 2-3 years in development. One moderately successful hit by Web2 standards (~50m players) will *triple* web3’s userbase overnight.
“It’s extremely likely the next wave of public adoption and narrative hysteria will be catalysed by a viral web3 game.
“This will be the first time any web3 project will have meaningfully gone mainstream. It will almost certainly happen in the next 12-18 months.”
App monetisation
Game developers are constantly under pressure to come up with strategies and tactics that generate revenues from their creations.
Mobile game monetisation is extremely challenging and should be considered during the early stages of the development process.
Developers generally adopt one of four monetisation models when creating games – in-app advertising, in-app purchases, subscription and paid.
However, the next 12 months will likely see a shift towards hybrid monetisation, particularly with the current economic downturn forcing many gamers to tighten their belts.
AppLovin’s vice president of global business development Daniel Tchernahovsky says more developers will adapt their monetisation tactics over the next year.
“As launching new gaming hits has become more difficult, we are seeing more and more developers take risks and be open to changing their previously winning formula,” Tchernahovsky said.
“We currently see and predict that we will continue to witness the game industry developing in its monetisation strategies.
“Whether it’s adopting hybrid monetisation, with IAP partners integrating ads, and ad-based developers trying to crack IAPs, or new ad formats such as app open or native, I expect to see a lot of new and creative monetisation strategies emerge in 2023.”
5G connectivity
The ongoing rollout of 5G Wi-Fi connectivity will have a major impact on many aspects of society over the next few years.
Online gaming, iGaming and eSports will all benefit from the fifth generation of cellular technology which has the potential to fire each of them into another stratosphere.
5G will accelerate development in areas such as multiplayer mobile gaming, cloud gaming, virtual reality and augmented reality.
With no network latency or lag to contend with, video game live streaming and other services that rely on this technology will become much more stable.
The burgeoning iGaming sector will benefit from 5G, as this will allow operators to channel more resources into the development of live casino games.
The competitive eSports sector will also receive a major boost from 5G, with smoother gameplay experiences one of the main advantages it will provide.
Animesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO of gaming talent management agency 8bit Creatives, says 5G connectivity will be truly transformational for the gaming industry.
“The upcoming metaverse, and all virtual reality technology that again would completely elevate the gaming experience, would be facilitated in large parts by 5G,” said Agarwal.
“One of the reasons why gaming has become so popular in the last few years is the multiplayer and social experience that games are now able to provide, and 5G is expected to make that even smoother. To be honest, 5G will impact gaming in more ways than one.”
Future gaming trends – The Final Word
Predicting what gaming will look like in the future is a tricky task, with the sector evolving much faster than most people would probably imagine.
However, what is much easier to forecast is that future innovation in the industry will continue to power significant revenue growth during 2023 and beyond.
