The Gaming Industry Is Changing. What You Should Know
If there is anything that’s getting bigger than was ever expected, it is gaming. Initially, the size and growth of the gaming industry was very small. But, in the past few years, the industry has been growing exponentially with an expected value of around $250 billion by the year 2025.
The gaming industry is now getting even more vast with the addition of gaming movies and gaming music videos. The number of gaming platforms and channels continues to expand with each passing day.
Gamers from all over the world are not just using gaming desktops or laptops for gameplay anymore. With the development of powerful gaming consoles like the PlayStation and Xbox, and mobile gaming, the industry is reaching new heights.
However, many people still don't understand the industry and find the attraction towards gaming to be a mystery. Still, the gaming community around the world keeps growing.
Growing Gaming Community
According to a state of the industry report by Spil Games, more than 1.2 billion people from all over the world play games regularly. And around 700 million of those gamers are involved in online games. That is almost 40% of the online traffic of the world.
Because video games are applications that are not restrained by age, gender, or any kind of boundaries, that is where the convenience, appeal, and growth of the gaming community resides.
The diverse audience for games is on the rise due to the emergence of mobile and laptops for gaming. Unlike the early age of gaming, it is not tied to immobile hardware anymore. They are accessible on a variety of platforms on numerous mobile devices.
So, the common criticism and complaint that the industry is male dominated (on both the game development and audience side) is now on the verge of extinction.
Top Ways of Playing Video Games
For home use, there are dedicated devices called gaming consoles, which are electronic or computer devices that output a video signal or visual image to display a video game that one or more people can play through some type of game controller.
The market for the gaming console is dominated by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, with their latest consoles being Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch respectively. These gaming consoles are designed with affordability and convenience kept in mind.
Besides consoles, gaming desktops and laptops are tied as the next most popular gaming devices. A huge number of gamers prefer a desktop or laptop for gaming due to their overwhelming capability to optimize the performance of the games.
The gaming laptop market is dominated by the likes of companies like Razor. They design laptops to ensure maximum gaming performance.
But the thing that has made the gaming industry even more popular in recent years is mobile gaming. Mobile gaming continues to play a vital role in the enormous growth of online gaming.
Playing games online has given people the ability to play with friends and gamers you know, which makes the gaming experience even more engaging and enjoyable.
Popular Gaming Categories and Genres
With the vast number of games available to play, they are categorized into many types because of their characteristics, design, and play style.
Below is a list of the most popular genres of games.
- Simulation
- Fighting
- MMORPG (Massively Multi-player online role-playing game)
- RPG (Role-playing game)
- FPS (First-person Shooter)
- MOBA (Multiplayer online battle arena)
- Sports
- Real-time Strategy
- Open world
Many current popular games take inspiration from more than one genre and target gamers of both. And with the rise of gaming, many genres are getting invented all the time.
Economics of the Gaming Industry
Back in the early days, the initial development costs for video games were very minimal. So, the games were very cheap and affordable. Back then, only a small number of developers could develop a game and sell thousands of copies of the game.
But due to the ever-increasing popularity of gaming and the increase of the processing power of the hardware used in gaming, video games have become even more impressive. And the development process has also become much more time consuming and complex.
Now, game development needs a large team of creatives, including programmers, visual artists, and graphic designers. Budges of developing popular games can reach up to millions of dollars.
Because of the shear size and rapid growth of the video gaming industry, iy is now playing an increasingly more crucial role in the world economy and breaking various sales records for those in the industry. Needless to say, if you enter the industry, it can be a very lucrative venture.
In the past, it was many gamers’ dream job to get paid to play their favorite games. Today, in the digital era, this dream has become a reality for many video game enthusiasts and pro players.
Whether you are using a mobile, console, or laptop for gaming, with hard work and a little luck you can also enter the competitive gaming industry and reap the rewards.
For casual players, the sheer joy of playing is exhilarating. So much so that as much as 66% of the US' online population, or around 141 million people, are playing casual games on social networks, mobile devices, and portals, according to a survey by market research firm Newzoo.
Ultimately, the gaming industry as a whole has grown to dizzying heights, which presents numerous opportunities for developers and gamers alike. And with the development of new platforms and technology, this is only just the beginning.
