Video games have become more and more popular throughout the years. With so many people looking for entertainment and ways to socialize during the pandemic, this trend has even grown bigger. In fact, gaming is now a much bigger industry than sports and movies. During the early days, people used to asked themselves, “what to watch.” But today, it’s going to be “whether to watch or simply play a game.”
So, what is the future of video games? Socially, gaming will continue to become dominant. But what are the technologies that will innovate the future of video games. And how will these technologies affect the gaming experience?
Virtual Reality
For several years now, gamers have become fascinated by virtual reality since it offers them a fully immersive experience. However, some consumers are complaining that this technology is quite sluggish in delivering their promise. Regardless of this, virtual reality remains to be a niche category in the gaming industry. And it continues to provide consumers with some excitement.
Although Virtual Reality needs to live up to its expectations, yet giant tech companies such as Sony, Valve, and Facebook have started to advance the technology by developing VR hardware and games. Although there are promising developments along the way, however, there are a few issues that should be addressed including its hefty prices and bulky headsets. The good news is, virtual reality is not only for gaming, it can also be used for other applications.
Cloud Gaming
The future of gaming could occur in the cloud. When it comes to cloud gaming, gamers will be able to play video games that are streamed from faraway servers. This is just the same as streaming Netflix movies on your laptops.
Theoritically, in this setup, your local hardware will become less relevant since you can still stream the games no matter what device you are using. Since cloud gaming is a subscription service, gamers do not need to own physical media since they can simply rent digital content.
When it comes to cloud gaming, it is important that you have a great WiFi connection so that you can have a smooth gaming experience. Some gamers prefer to use a VPN for playing games on PC. Using a VPN can let you play the game wherever you are in the world.
The Metaverse
When it comes to the future of gaming, it wouldn’t be complete without including the metaverse. Apparently, this concept has impressed a lot of huge tech companies around the world. It was in 1992, when this idea was introduced by Neal Stephenson in his book Snow Crash. Think of it as an online cyberspace where you can log in and live out your other life. Generally, the metaverse is a combination of both augmented and virtual reality. In fact, they have their own economy and permits total interoperability.
Although, we have not reached there yet, however, we can see some apparent hints of the metaverse. For instance, in gaming platforms such as Roblox, wherein events are being hosted by luxury fashion brands such as Gucci. Also, in games such as Fortnite, where you will be given the chance to dress up like your favorite Marvel or Star Wars characters. Additionally, you can even watch Ariana Grande concerts virtually. You can also explore other games that are similar to Fortnite.
Just like the internet, the metaverse can be used for other purposes other than gaming. However, gaming is expanding its meaning. In fact, it’s not about competition anymore, it’s more on connection.
Augmented Reality
It was in 2016, when smartphone users playing Pokémon Go have swarmed parks to accomplish their missions. This is an augmented reality mobile game wherein digital objects overlay the player’s natural field of view. Pokémon Go became the first experience of most people on AR. In fact, it was one of the most successful stories in technology and generated more than $5 billion in sales. The real secret of the game is it’s combination of real and virtual situations, which is the physical locations and the digital characters.
This is probably the reason why AR is more popular than VR. People are more interested in games that allows them to interact with reality rather than getting them off from it. The success of Pokémon Go could likely inspire game studios to put more relevance on the demand of consumers for games that combine virtual with reality. The Witcher has also its own version of Pokemon Go, but unfortunately, it will be shut down soon.