Online gaming is one of the most dynamic sectors of the online economy. Every year a host of innovations combine to provide gamers with a bewildering and exciting variety of new challenges, and over the years, this has also helped to push back the frontiers of our knowledge. In 2020, online gaming fans are able to enjoy a host of exciting gaming opportunities.
And although this year has been badly hit by the coronavirus, the pace of technological change in the gaming world is not slowing down. Right now there are thousands of companies and individuals working hard to deliver the next generation of online gaming innovations. Here is a sample of the latest trends that are helping to shape the online gaming world in 2020.
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) hasn’t so far reached the state of development that was once predicted of it, but the popularity of Pokemon Go hinted at the potential for this technology, and as faster 5G connectivity spreads, the low latency of this new form of technology makes AR gaming and in particular, multiplayer AR gaming a likely development over the next few months.
Virtual Reality
The technological cousin of AR, Virtual Reality (VR) has been a reality for many years, and the launch of a number of Virtual Realitygaming platforms a couple of years ago represented a new stage of development for this technology. The cost of VR has priced out many people to date, but as prices continue to fall, VR is becoming more accessible and there is a steadily increasing range of VR gaming titles available, a trend that is likely to accelerate over the next two years.
Casino Gambling
The online gambling sector has always been one of the key components of the gaming economy6 and whether that is offering online casinos for Canadian players or producing the latest in mobile slots titles, the online casino sector continues to provide a host of innovations. Technology such as VR casinos, cryptocurrency casinos and new twists on live casino games are shaping the online gambling sector and have potential to influence other forms of gaming.
Beginning of the End for Consoles
Given the dominance of the XBox and the PlayStation, it may seem strange to be predicting the end of the console, but there are a number of developments that could see this form of gaming decline. Most notably, the rise of cloud gaming, which does away with the expensive infrastructure of consoles, and the introduction of 5G threaten the supremacy of this gaming model.
Gaming ecosystems
The trend towards digital distribution of games is not new, but the difficulty of obtaining physical copies of games during the pandemic may help to push this further. Online gaming ecosystems, developed around certain games and computing models has the potential to be the gaming paradigm of the future, providing an ongoing interaction between players and developers, blurring the traditional lines and distinctions, and breaking up the traditional model of buyer and seller.
