BW Gaming World
Games are a way to entertain, unwind, connect with friends and educate people. We have a plethora of games around us that satiate a community of around 2.7 billion gamers worldwide that enjoy gaming almost daily. The gaming industry has carved a niche for itself due to its success, scale and self-sustenance. It continues to disrupt the market with technological advancements and innovations. Gaming is no longer limited to entertainment alone, it has permeated across dimensions be it education, personality development and now pop nationalism. Korean pop culture is now a known entity across the globe, be it Americans or Asians, all are consuming its content.
This growth curve is only going to get better and bigger. According to data from Newzoo, players around the world spent more than USD 145 billion on computers, video and mobile games last year, far exceeding global box office earnings and worldwide music revenues as reported by Comscore and IFPI, respectively. The coming decade is going to witness a billion more gamers jumping onto the gaming bandwagon and becoming active and enthusiastic members of this humongous community.
How is gaming going to create that disruption to reach the next billion gamers? that’s a good question. Here’s how.
Cloud Gaming
Usually, games need large storage space and take time to install but with cloud gaming you can skip the entire process and enjoy a seamless gaming experience. In addition, multiple device access, social gaming with friends through a simple URL and higher security are the added advantages of cloud gaming. With high-speed internet, the cloud gaming experience will enable accessibility and that too at a lower cost. This will help get first-time gamers to the platform for the ease-of-playing games. The next generation of gamers demands device-agnostic gaming and cloud gaming supports this ideology.
A lucrative career for Game Creators – Way to earn
Gone are the days when gaming was only considered a form of entertainment alone. It is now looked upon as a serious career option for gamers who want to turn their love for gaming into their profession. Gaming is recognized as a skill and gamers are valued and respected for it and are now even considered equivalent to sportspersons. With social media, gamers have become popular influencers, almost celebrities who have a massive following on their pages. Their audiences have become a channel of income for gamers given that advertisers are now tapping them for branding and product promotions. With the advent of blockchain-based games, gamers can earn using their skills as well.
Personalized Ed-Gaming
Gaming is being introduced into the lives of young children at an early age to teach them healthy habits, build on their creativity, and help in overall brain development. The learning graph of each child is different, therefore personalizing games to the child’s requirement will attract many young parents. This in turn will further build the ecosystem and open a gateway for newer members in the community. Even young adults learn better through gamified versions of their subject as it helps in retention and a better understanding of a concept.
Gaming also enhances cognitive and recognition skills, if kids are exposed under supervision, it can create wonders for their learning abilities. Social gaming is making a monumental impact on young minds that allows for building social skills, increases social interactions and a sense of healthy competition. Popular games like Minecraft and Roblox are the new playgrounds for kids.
Democratization of the gaming experience
Gamers enjoy personalising games and adding their own touches to them. Whether it’s the avatar’s name, profile, or outfit. Gamers would participate more if all games allowed them to alter game aspects. Democratizing the gaming experience empowers players and enables them to use their free will without limiting their ingenuity. This gives the gamer control and does not limit the new-age gamer.
Adoption of superior technology
Be it faster operating systems or high-speed internet, companies need to understand the pulse of their consumers and work towards building technology that will make the gaming experience increasingly seamless. For example, investing and working on cloud gaming, AI, Machine Learning, virtual reality, artificial reality, the Internet of things, etc. With 5G being rolled out in many developing countries, gaming companies will see hyper-growth trajectories and will need to adapt to the rapid technological changes. As we have seen in the past, the better the technology, the better the adoption rate of new consumers.
The future of gaming will depend on how quickly the industry will adapt to social, political, and technological changes. Developing countries will see millions of gamers being introduced to the ecosystem as technological advancements seep into these countries. We are not far from reaching the next billion gamers if we can explore avenues to attract budding gamers on the horizon.
Written by Ashish Pathak, Product Manager, now.gg
