Technology hasn’t just transformed the gaming industry; it has changed everything about our society and how we function. Banking, social media, healthcare, and shopping – no industry has avoided the tremendous impact of technology. Gaming sits in an intriguing position.
Technological innovations first led to the development of the primitive computer, resulting in the rise of arcade games, video console games, and more recently, live online gaming, professional esports, and mobile app games. Every key development in gaming over the last half century has emerged from technological improvements, but the true scale of the impact is hard to calculate.
Pioneers in gaming – the digital Big Bang
Many gaming sectors can claim to be innovative in the broader sector. Still, over the last 20 years, the two standout contenders in this field have been risk gaming and home console video game titans such as Sony and Microsoft. Both have pioneered immensely since the beginning of the 21st century, and not only has the impact been felt far and wide but it continues reverberating around the modern market.
For instance, online gaming companies and sportsbooks have changed the way welcome bonuses and promotions operate. In the UK, land-based gaming operators and sportsbooks started using free bets, free chips, and loyalty points, all the same tools they still use today.
However, the internet opened up a new angle and dimension to marketing. Customers can log in, use promo codes, claim cashback bonuses, and take advantage of a host of other promotions that you can find compiled at Online Slot UK. It was no surprise to see the industry explode in the UK during the early 21st century.
Due to the vast audience that online gaming can reach, the scope for profit is enormous. This also means the competition is much stronger than domestic land-based providers, transcending the formerly monopolistic industry into one of the most pioneering sectors in the UK gaming industry.
The rise of the smartphone
We can’t discuss technological impacts on the online gaming industry without discussing the rise of the smartphone. When Apple unveiled its first iPhone in 2007, it marked the beginning of a gaming gold rush – designers could piece together DIY home designs, make games themselves, and put them on the App Store for people to download and play anywhere in the world.
Until the rise of cryptocurrency, and more recently AI, the smartphone was by far the most impactful tech innovation of the century. They’re more influential than cryptocurrency and AI for now, but with AI set to replace over 80 million jobs, that statement could change pretty quickly.
Games like League Of Legends, which has over 200 million downloads and is one of the most successful games of all time, completely changed how designers approach game design. Online games were specific to PC gaming, and around the early 2010s, video consoles like Xbox and PlayStation. There wasn’t a market because smartphones hadn’t yet entered the world of mass adoption, but the iPhone kicked off that change in the latter part of the 2000s.
Free-to-play games like League of Legends adopted a model in which you could download a game for free, but to unlock new levels, characters, weapons etc, you needed to make in-game purchases, also known as microtransactions. By 2021, the microtransactions sector within gaming was worth nearly $60 billion a year – and it is projected to double that figure within the next decade.
Of course, this has had massive repercussions in the industry. Microtransactions comprise a considerable part of some of the most popular video games, including FC 25 and Grand Theft Auto.
Future innovations
The game design company that can exploit the next significant innovation will be the first to break ground in a potential gold mine. Some industry analysts and experts believe that VR will emerge from AI innovation, and some think that VR will have a run and become more relevant.
Others think blockchain and cryptocurrency might make some inroads, given Bitcoin reaching a six-figure amount over the last 12 months. There are many potentials and spinning plates for designers and creators in the industry to contend with.
Final thoughts
From the early 2000s, with the initial rise of desktop gaming and the latter stages of mobile apps, blockchain and VR, technology has dictated the tempo or the rhetoric of the online gaming industry.
It’s rare for an industry to control its direction, especially forms of entertainment often driven by consumer demand. Still, technology has become so transformative that it simply couldn’t be ignored. AI, VR, cryptocurrency and a host of other technologies have yet to truly impact gaming. While this is exciting for gamers, it creates a tricky road for gaming companies looking to retain their influence and not lose any of their market share.
Gaming, just like every other industry, will be keeping a keen eye on technological innovations, because although few things are inevitable in the 24/7 world of international game development, one thing that is certain is that technology will continue to have a gargantuan impact on gaming.
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