The gaming industry as a whole has seen some remarkable growth in the last few decades, as technology continues to revolutionize how we experience the medium altogether. Current practices continue to evolve, and it is always great to think about what future gaming trends might become. In this write-up, we will look into 6 areas in particular, with regard to expected changes in gaming trends that we can come to expect in the future.
Immersive Future Game Design
One of the common trends in the gaming industry already in existence is the natural expectation for games, in general, to be better designed as the years go by. In the next 10 years, we will continue to see shifts in technology with the creation of stronger computing devices as well as more innovative software that allows for games to be more immersive. Playing a game will feel even more captivating as the elements going into future game design begin to feel even more believable. The sounds will be even more riveting, and sights in the form of landscapes and objects will appear more realistic.
Ray tracing is already leading the charge in this as one of the newest ways to achieve creative lighting through somewhat photorealistic rendering. It will be an almost expected industry standard for games to be this well made, but it does not mean that different more avant-garde games with less of an inclination to photorealistic rendering will be left behind. If anything, they will also benefit from the same better technology, which will make experiencing them even more enveloping for players!
A Bigger Role for Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is sure to have a more active role in future game design, with the possibility of more extensive interactions with non-playable characters or in-game mechanics becoming a very real possibility. Rather than just the typical linear interactions with in-game assets, the inclusion of AI will make it possible to have the game react to player actions and choices in more nuanced ways.
Machine learning has become one of the more recent trends in the gaming industry, in a more active role in the process of development. Principles of procedural generation of content will have a more prominent role in future game design: specifically in helping to cut down the workload of development for designers. New methods of integrating it will see the rise of even more aspects of gameplay, especially in player-oriented titles that thrive on creativity.
Improved Graphical Fidelity
We’ve seen an improvement in graphics for games, as well as an equal revolution in gaming devices built to better support the ever-increasing graphical demands that come along with said games. Big companies in the GPU scene such as NVIDIA and AMD have been in competition to produce the most powerful graphics cards to date, and the next decade will see them and other uprising companies produce new, more powerful graphical processing units.
Transition to Cloud Gaming
At the moment, the thought of cloud computing mostly brings to mind storage capabilities for simple files. Imagine never having to have a game downloaded on your device for you to play it and being able to access the said game from anywhere at any time, on any device. This is the future that awaits us with the coming transition to cloud gaming. It is a coined term implying the hosting of games and the ability to move computing capabilities away from PCs, consoles and phones to cloud gaming interfaces. No longer would hardware be a limiting factor for the enjoyment of games, as one would be able to access the games that they want, whenever they would want it.
Of course, it would require massive growth and development of cloud computing as a whole. The industry has already begun to make strides in this direction as well, with services like Google Stadia making the beginning steps to allow players to play a variety of games from their cloud-based industry via streaming. The devices on which we would access cloud gaming would need to improve as well in order to meet the hardware requirements allowing for any of these games to run, but that future is not too far away either.
Growth of Virtual Reality
The mid-2010s saw a massive blow up in the popularity of Virtual reality, becoming one among many gaming trends that marked the decade. Creators and developers took to building games and sceneries accessible by simply wearing a headset. The field is still in its early stages, with many of the creations still lacking the full dedicated resources in development to make a VR experience really immersive.
The future game design will see more investments in trends in the gaming industry, which will lead to new innovations, animation and even new methods of controlling these completely digital spaces.
The initial price of entry for VR gaming at the moment is also on the high side for a majority of players and is a growing hindrance to access for many. It is only a matter of time before less cumbersome and less expensive headsets with even better efficiency make it into the market, allowing the participation of far more people as well.
It will soon be a common occurrence to be able to play at an online casino, at a table where you get to face other players on a virtual landscape.
The Rise of Cryptocurrency Betting
Many online casino games are already able to use both predetermined in-game currency and real-life money to allow for as many games as predetermined limits allow. Although still fairly new, cryptocurrencies are becoming more stabilized and are poised to become mainstream forms of payment within the digital landscape and gaming industry.
The truth of the matter is that it is only a matter of time until cryptocurrency is integrated into all sorts of gambling, from sports betting to poker and even video slot games like IGT free slots. A lot of businesses and organizations have already begun to accept and integrate cryptocurrency into their modes of payment, and in time, gambling games will make this one of the popular trends in the gaming industry. Of course, the question is what cryptocurrency, in particular, will be preferable, as there are thousands of variations in existence at the moment.
The world of gaming is poised for a revolution, built on a foundation of slowly changing and improving technology. Plenty of potential abounds for so many new gaming trends that we can expect going forward. The limitations existing at the moment include but are not limited to:
- Absence of the right game-changing technology to catalyze the development of new unique assets.
- A lack of funding or sufficient investment in various fields of development in the online casino gambling industry to allow for truly next-generation gaming.
- A lack of adequate connectivity, as many parts of the world, still sport poor internet connections.
The good news is that many of these limitations will likely not be an issue with the passage of time and future game design, as the next 10 years will see them overcome as the need for better, more immersive gaming remains on the rise. It is in our nature as humans to want to improve our quality of life, so a massive change of trends in the gaming industry of the future is bound to happen sooner than most of us realize.
Photo Credits
Photos are from Canva
Guest Author Bio
Trenton J. Smith
Trenton is an aspiring writer who loves to research and write about a wide variety of topics. When he is not writing, he enjoys gardening and long walks with his dog Boomer.
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