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By many other industry’s standards, the success experienced by the gaming world in 2020 would have meant that it would go down in history as a landmark year – a pivotal, defining moment that elevated game developers and their massive user base to new heights.
By the industry’s own standards, however, 2020 was just the beginning, and forecasts for the year to come anticipate much greater growth and development – and, in a more qualitative sense, yet more significant strides forward for creativity and innovation. That’s not to mention, of course, the changes we should anticipate in the realm of technological development, which directly feed into the capabilities of the entire industry.
In fact, the gaming world is expected to achieve a CAGR of more than 10% between 2021 and 2026 – an impressive feat for an industry that experienced something of a climactic moment just last year. Here are just a handful of the most influential forces promising to further accelerate gaming’s ascent in the coming months.
The ‘Re-Rise’ of Online Poker
Ever since the first few digital casino sites made their way onto our iMacs and Pocket PCs around the turn of the millennium, online poker has inarguably retained a position at the very height of the industry. A game that has intrigued innumerable players over the years, its transition onto the web – and away from the quiet, concentrated rooms of Vegas and Macau – was facilitated by some of the most creative and innovative game designers of the time.
The story remains largely the same today, as the very best providers continue to invest those hours into bringing the genre ever forward – rather than allowing it to stagnate, and be superseded by newer games and titles.
The leading site GGPoker is, of course, a primary example of this continued work. From capturing the attention of the world’s most renowned professional players to investing into the next generation of software, it is clear that this long-standing genre will continue to take a front seat in the advancement of the gaming world.
SaaS – Or ‘GaaS’
Streaming as a Service (SaaS) is most commonly associated with film and TV. From Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to Hulu and HBO Max, the benefits of offering vast, digital content libraries via a subscription-based service has long been exemplified within this arena.
So too has it been proven a success within the music industry. Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora Radio, to name just a few, have long since superseded the need for physical media like CDs.
It stands to reason, then, that the gaming industry – yet another indomitable niche of the entertainment sector – could see significant benefit from a similar model, predicated on the all-you-can-eat approach to content. GaaS, or Gaming as a Service, promises to bring players vast libraries of playable content which does not need to be purchased or downloaded onto their hard drives. After all, even a quick glimpse at Netflix’s revenue over the years demonstrates SaaS’s propensity for seemingly endless growth.
Google Stadia, Amazon Luna and Xbox Cloud Gaming have all only recently entered into the public domain – and yet, already, uptake is remarkable. With a subscription-based model that has already proven itself to be incredibly lucrative for key players, it is clear that the gaming industry is preparing to undergo yet another dramatic surge upwards.
The Impact of SaaS on Mobile Gaming
Within the movement toward SaaS, another lucrative opportunity opens up. Due to the service’s ability to offer Triple-A games without placing the onus on the player’s hardware, one of the most anticipated benefits to utilising a cloud gaming model is the ability to play powerful, cutting-edge games on mobile devices.
Not only this, but players can now transfer their progress from console or PC to mobile, meaning that the amount of time a subscriber can spend gaming is set to rise sharply in the coming months. Rather than having to shape their gaming habits around their day-to-day lives, gamers can now play those same games during the morning and evening commute, say, or while they wait for an appointment.
This has, in effect, begun to break down the barriers the gaming industry once imposed on itself. For, while they worked tirelessly to release new consoles and hardware capable of creating incredibly immersive experiences for players, that same hardware precluded titles from being playable on mobile. Now, gamers can enjoy the best of both worlds – and so too can the industry reap the benefits of their widening presence in our lives.
So, in spite of the dramatic fluctuations that arose from the GameStop hivemind investors in January of this year, it seems that gaming is set to experience another smooth ride to the top in the coming years – and beyond.
