Day in day out we see sparkly new tech inventions hitting the scene. No industry has
gone untouched by the revolutionary hand of technological innovation and we’ve
seen drastic evolution as a result. Books became films and now we have virtual
reality allowing us to be a part of our favourite stories, live music became records
and now we have unfathomably large libraries in our phones able to be enjoyed at
any time. One of the most amazing evolutions is in our entertainment, specifically
gaming. When you think about how far the gaming industry has come, from board
games to arcades, to video games and all the way through to the phone app market,
it’s difficult to imagine how much further they could advance. But really, the
possibilities are far from limited…
Virtual Reality
We’ve already mentioned how virtual reality’s immersive qualities make for a great
cinematic experience but this genius technology is taken to new heights when used
for gaming. It might feel as if VR has been around for years if you look back to the
90s when the iGlasses, Virtual Boy and VFX1 Headgear blasted onto the scene, but
these headsets merely grazed the tip of the iceberg in both technology and impact.
Given a bit more time to iron out some creases (or glitches in this case) headsets
like the HTC Vive and PlayStationVR now hold resident positions in the gaming
industry. The concept of being fully immersed into a game has been the pinnacle
fantasy of most gamers ever since they first got their grips on a joystick and for a
long time VR has been projected as the future we’re in store for. But is the reality of
VR all it’s cracked up to be? Like every tech it has it’s limitations, heavy and bulky
headsets make sustained usage unlikely and their are restrictions before you’ve
even purchased the equipment - you first need the appropriate space to use it! The
next steps in VR development should definitely be focused on gear optimisation,
lighter and more wearable tech that, with the introduction of cloud gaming, could be
used anywhere!
Augmented Reality
If VR is a new reality, AR is Old Reality 2.0! Augmented reality isn’t immersing the
user into a new realm like VR does, but actually taking the one we already live in and
adorning it with interactive objects and characters. Taking the world by storm across
social media and various smartphone apps, AR has charged onto the scene. A prime
example of the impact of AR in the gaming world is Pokémon Go. In 2016 when
specialist developers Niantic released the game it spread like wildfire. On every
street corner you’d find a huddle of people aiming their phones in every direction in
an attempt to catch a Psyduck that appeared to be floating halfway up a lamppost.
Within 200 days, players had spent a billion dollars on in-game upgrades, breaking
records by huge margins. Since then we’ve seen Niantic release more games like
Ingress and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite - although the not so impressive impact of
the former and gargantuan success of the latter gives the impression that it was the
Harry Potter and Pokémon fanbases that contributed to the success of the games,
and less likely the augmented reality aspect. This is no surprise really, considering
that the AR usage in the games is limited to a ‘point and shoot’ style of play. Both
and Google and Apple have invested heavily into AR development, hopefully, the
future of augmented reality will be more versatile in game usage and spanning
across many genres.
eSports
How we enjoy watching video games has come on leaps and bounds from crowding
round your favourite arcade game impatiently waiting your turn with change firmly in
your grip. You can now attend huge arenas with thousands of other spectators much
as we expect of many sports. There are amateur leagues, professionals,
adjudicating committees and even attempts to bring eSports (electronic sports) to
Japan’s 2020 Olympic games. In many countries professional gamers are already
recognised as pro athletes, after a few more years of growth and some Olympic
action these athletes will accumulate fanbases and followings of their own, making
them perfect partners for advertising campaigns and sponsorships. If eSports
continues to grow like this, we can expect it holding a huge place in modern
entertainment - reflective of other sports cultures. The experience of an eSport
competition is a great advance from its humble arcade roots, creating a collective
atmosphere that couldn’t be further from the perspective of gamers being cooped up
in their bedrooms by themselves. Its popularity is growing, having attracted an
estimated 380 million viewers (both casual and enthusiasts) in 2018. Streaming
capabilities have taken the roof off the limit to who can watch the competitions and
their potential reach only grows as streaming becomes a faster and smoother
experience.
Streaming
Sports spectatorship has always been a mammoth market, lives streams only made
it more accessible and the same goes for gaming. Many eSports competitions are
viewed through streaming instead of live attendance, services like Twitch and
Youtube Gaming are platforms making game spectatorship as easy as watching the
footie on the telly. However it’s not only eSports that takes advantage of streaming,
many games now have spectator modes, you can watch your friend’s gameplay and
vice versa. Those who watch streamed games are twice as likely to purchase digital
and mobile video games, the platforms providing these services are clearly making a
big impact on the industry, encouraging sales and generating committed consumers.
With 5G on the horizon we can only imagine the speeds and accessibility that will
come with it, the communities that gamers have built through the PlayStation
Network and Xbox Live could become entirely portable. Streaming games will be
accessible anywhere and any time at breakneck speeds. It goes even further than
just playing against your buddies, imagine being able to link up with the top players
from around the world for 1:1 consultancy sessions… could this be the new personal
training?
Cloud Gaming
Greater bandwidth speeds won’t just affect the ease of spectatorship, but gaming
itself. Imagine a system that allowed you to essentially stream games in the same
way we watch videos online, making use of powerful cloud servers and insane
connectivity. Announced earlier this year, Google Stadia is one of the frontrunners in
upcoming cloud gaming. Completely console-less, a controller allows you to access
the platform through any compatible device no matter where you are - 5G speeds
will make this super slick and reliable, securing a valued position within the
gaming community. Cloud-based gaming allows any users across the world to be
connected in a way like never before, in the future we could see game developers
uploading their own creations onto the cloud with shorter load times and no
download waits, more powerful and impressive than anything built for PC or console
currently. Cloud technology has enhanced so many different industries in ways
practically no one could predict, the gaming industry is likely to have the same
revelations and breakthroughs as the tech only grows. Although just spreading its
wings, cloud gaming’s potential to continue soaring higher and higher is down to
what other uses it has. Imagine combining technologies, cloud VR gaming where
you could be immersed in a world with other players all around the world. What would
a VR cloud version of WoW look like?
The future of gaming feels very immediate, all these amazing technologies are in our
hands and houses already and seem to be getting stronger, faster and better at what
they do. It’s hard to predict the evolution of an industry that keeps continuing to
exceed expectations, what was once an adolescent and male-dominated market has
seen growth in both older and female players, clearly, the popularity of gaming
continues to exponentially increase. Soon enough we’ll all be playing arcades in the
sky.