The online gaming industry is one of the most lucrative gaming sectors and it has been able to maintain its supremacy through steady evolution. All tech sectors can measure their success by how capable they are of adapting to trends and their willingness to innovate. Op-eds and talking heads love to complain about how the internet has made our attention spans too short, but in reality, innovation is simply an exciting part of the digital age.
One of the most exciting parts of the online gaming industry is that it embraces trends and finds new ways to keep gaming fresh and fun for players of all ages and at all skill levels. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the latest trends and innovations in the gaming industry that have caught our eye.
Rise of sweepstakes casinos
For years, sweepstakes casinos have been a popular option for people who live in states where regular online casinos are not currently legal. Recently, however, they’ve begun to grow in popularity regardless of location. They have now become one of the rising trends in the online gambling sector.
New sweepstakes casinos are starting to pop up once in a while, and the reason so is that they differ from traditional online casinos in one major way you aren’t playing for real money. Games are played with an in-game currency and prizes are also awarded in that same currency to continue playing or as special tokens. These tokens can be used to enter sweepstakes for prizes. Tokens can still be purchased with real money, but purchases aren’t technically necessary.
While online casinos have been a major force in the gambling world, what they’ve been missing is a community element. This is the other reason why sweepstakes casinos are trending at the moment — they have a social element that makes them more interactive and enjoyable.
Virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) has been one of the leading trends in gaming for the last few years. It may not be developing as quickly as some of its biggest proponents would have hoped, but that’s no reason to give up hope. Even the small steps that are consistently being made are worth paying attention to.
The current trends are toward more accessible VR hardware. The expense of VR headsets and controls is one of the main reasons that VR gaming hasn’t been able to develop as quickly as we’d hoped. With more companies now working to create their own VR hardware, there will be increased competition that is expected to drive prices down and improve quality.
In terms of software, VR game developers have been working to improve the player experience and make it more immersive. They are focused primarily on improving eye tracking and haptic feedback for headsets and controls. Others are working on further developing force feedback gloves. These gloves apply pressure to the player’s hands, so it actually feels like they have the game object in their hand. This innovation will be a massive step for VR gaming.
Hybrid monetization
How games are monetized has been changing rapidly. After decades of games simply being purchased, new monetization methods were introduced with the rise in popularity of mobile gaming. Nowadays, free games that have in-app purchases are the norm in mobile gaming and most online games offer some alternative form of monetization. The discussion surrounding loot crates and whether they should legally be considered gambling dominated the monetization discussion in 2020 and 2021.
In 2023, the monetization trends are heading towards hybridization and less aggressive monetization models. This includes subscription services, fewer forced in-app purchases — although they are still presented as an option, and more bundled content available for purchase.
It’s very positive to see that developers have finally realized that fans of their games will be happy and willing to spend money on their games and that they don’t need to be bullied into it with aggressive advertising.
Increased personalization
Being able to personalize your game avatar has been a part of gaming for many years, and we’ve come a very long way from the days of only being able to change an avatar’s hairstyle and outfit. Customization now includes all elements of how an avatar looks and is the norm for basically all games.
In online gaming today, personalization means more than just customization. The entire game experience can be adapted to fit the individual player. By using generative AI and machine learning along with distributed computing, game developers can offer players a highly personalized game experience. This includes unique promotions, quests and elements of the game experience.
Some critics do worry that as with all areas where AI and increased tracking are allowed, gaming personalization will simply become another way for companies to mine our personal data and use it for their own gain. Of course, there is always a worry about how our information is used and how much control we cede to businesses, but that is part of a larger conversation and gaming personalization is not a major element.
Cloud gaming
Cloud technology has become an integral part of how we work on the internet, it’s even become a great money saving solution for businesses that aren’t in a position to heavily invest in on-site infrastructure. In our daily lives, we also use cloud technology to back up our personal data.
Cloud gaming is an important innovation in the video game world. Cloud gaming involves games being streamed to a player through their device. This removes the need for physical copies of games and allows for immediate purchase and play upon a game’s release. Since the games are streamed rather than downloaded, it also reduces the stress on player’s devices and allows players to maintain bigger game libraries.
One minor benefit that many people overlook is the positive environmental impact of producing fewer physical games — and the plastic cases to hold them.
Co-operative play
Cooperative games have been very popular in the board game world for the last few years, but video games have largely remained individual and competitive. There have always been exceptions, such as being able to raid as a group or to complete missions as part of a team. However, these cooperative elements have still been part of a competitive game structure — similar to how being successful at team sports involves beating other teams.
Co-operative gameplay began trending among indie developers. The leading titles in this area range from the adorably chaotic Overcooked, which is a co-op kitchen game, to A Way Out, which is a gritty prison break co-op. As the success of these titles was noted, AAA game studios have begun to build cooperative gameplay into their games. Two recent titles that have co-op modes as options are Redfall and Minecraft Legends.
Creating a truly cooperative game is a difficult prospect since players are so used to playing competitive games. Thankfully, as more titles with cooperative elements are released, the games themselves will become better and more players will become familiar with them. This is one of the more exciting trends in online gaming to watch because it could lead to true innovation.
Death of the metaverse
When Mark Zuckerberg announced that his social media empire was shifting its focus to the metaverse, opinion was mixed. Some thought that it really would be the future and that our lives would become largely digital, while others thought it was overly ambitious and weird. The failure of Meta’s Horizon Worlds to gain a large user base has shown that the second group was closer to correct.
The metaverse was going to be the future of online gaming. Recent videos about life in the Metaverse have shown that it’s a nearly empty video world. As much as people loved the idea of the Metaverse and a digital world to play online games in, it simply hasn’t worked out. Maybe once they figure out how to give the avatars legs that will change, but we wouldn’t hold our breath for that possibility.
Increased diversity and diversification
Traditionally, the audience for video games was primarily limited to straight white men in their teens or early twenties. Over the last two decades, that has changed significantly, and you can now find gamers of all ages, races, and genders. Developers have responded to these changes by including more diverse characters in their games. Despite some backlash, this trend is thankfully continuing.
Alongside increased diversity in games, we’re also seeing increased diversity in the types of games being created. Developers, especially indie game developers, have noticed that the audience for their games has grown in new directions with new interests. This gives them more room to create new types of games and to use more unique graphic styles.
There will always be some complaints about change. These trends towards greater inclusivity and new types of content will face their share of upset. Hopefully, the positive response to these trends from across all gamer demographics will be more powerful than the negative voice.
