Possible Futures for the Gaming Industry
When most people talk about the gaming industry these days, they are either referring to the new systems, platforms, or games due to be released. And it seems like they are constantly rolling out, so there is always something big to talk about.
Although it is more than exciting to talk about these new releases and the potential they hold in the gaming world, the future of gaming is even more exciting. It also holds the potential to have a bigger impact on the industry than a new game or system. So, where is the future of the gaming industry headed?
The Actual Arrival Of Virtual Reality
If you are like most hardcore gamers, it probably feels like virtual reality has been right on the brink for the past few years. Developers have been promising that the fully immersive technology is just 5 minutes away.
This was 5 years ago when they promised that. To their effort, they have released some teasers in the meantime to keep fans interested. However, the major problem with such releases has been pricing and access. When it’s available, it ends up being so expensive that it’s a huge setback for anyone on a reasonable budget.
Luckily, gamers are starting to see that change. Virtual reality headsets and games are now starting to roll out onto the market with reasonably affordable pricing. Despite this, back in 2020, VR sales didn’t even account for a full percent of the gaming market. That’s a huge blow to developers and their continued efforts. A big part of this is probably contributed to overhype or unrealistic expectations. You see it all the time.
Gamers simply think VR will put them right there in the action. When gamers strap on their headsets and get into the game, they are a bit hurt back the lack of performance of this great world-changing technology they waited so long on. It’s only natural to feel this way, but this only encourages developers to strive harder. VR is becoming more affordable, accessible, and impressive by the second. There is no doubt that it will grow into what gamers expect it to be. It will just take time and research. VR technology is even being explored with some of the สล็อตเว็บใหญ่ที่สุด.
What About Augmented Reality?
If VR is mentioned, you have to mention augmented reality, right? Most probably remember back in 2016 when people from all over the world took to the national parks and plazas to hunt, armed with their smartphones to hunt Pokemon. This in itself was quite an achievement for the genre. Think of a portable movie projector that allows users to display colorful images anywhere in their natural field of view. It sounds kind of like old technology when you put it like that, but it was truly a pivotal point in the industry.
And the fans really took to it. Swarms of people were partaking and this single game ended up generating nearly $5 billion in sales. What happened? That’s what a lot of people find themselves asking today. This was way back in 2016, nearly 7 years ago now, and there hasn’t been anything else.
This little Pokemon was by far the biggest success in the industry and it all just came to a grinding halt. You would have thought developers would have capitalized on this.
Maybe fans only responded so well because augmented reality at this time was showing more realistic promise than virtual reality. Perhaps it was just the long-term success of the little creature chasing game that made this endeavor such a success.
Whatever the situation, AR gaming has proven to hold much more potential success in the mobile gaming platform and with tech companies like Facebook, Apple, Snap, and Magic Leap. These companies are always doing impressive things. There is no doubt they are working on some AR technology behind the scenes as you read this.
Artificial Intelligence Could Be A Real Game Changer
It might not seem like it to many, but when you think of artificial intelligence in the most simplistic of ways, you have to picture Amazon Echo and the other voice-command devices. Despite what many would believe, artificial intelligence hasn’t been explored to great lengths in the gaming industry. There have been some thoughts of experimenting with some of the non-playable characters in today’s most popular games like Pac-Man and Grand Theft Auto.
Some developers have even recently started creating and designing complicated behavior trees to go along with these NPCs. The biggest success of these attempts is shown in Halo 2 more than in any other game. The technology gifted the enemy aliens the ability to not only work together but the ability to coordinate and plan out their attack strategies. Rather than just heedlessly attack and fire or flee from the opposing teams, they employ practical military combat tactics. This technology stands to offer the biggest impact on the gaming industry.