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The gaming industry is currently one of the most successful and fastest growing sectors in entertainment. eSports are on the rise as a legitimate mainstream sporting pursuit, gaming subscription services can boast 10% growth since last year, and there are currently over two billion active mobile gamers. Although video gaming has been a popular pastime since the first rudimentary titles of the 1970s and 80s, the past few years have seen unprecedented expansion driven by growing audience interest and technological development.
Gaming would not – and could not – be where it is today without those technological breakthroughs made by games developers. They have allowed video games to move out of the arcade and into our homes, progressing through various iterations of consoles and gaming PCs before arriving on our smartphones and other mobile devices. Progress with internet connectivity and streaming capabilities has paved the way for online multiplayer titles, cross-platform play and mobile games good enough to rival any AAA release.
Let’s delve deeper into some of the ground-breaking tech behind the world’s favourite modern games.
RNGs (Random Number Generators)
Sometime around the early 2000s, casino games made the big leap from traditional brick and mortar venues to the world wide web. Ever since then, online casino platforms have been expanding and perfecting their stables of titles available to players, offering more choice, better access and increased security. Slots games are easily the most popular genre of online casino game due to their varied fun themes, adaptability to different budgets and playing styles, and their superior graphics.
However, if you’ve ever wondered how a non-mechanical slot can remain truly random, then look no further than RNGs. Random number generators are a vital aspect of slot machine mechanics as they ensure the complete randomness of the game. This clever piece of tech is actually an algorithm which uses input data such as atmospheric noise or electromagnetic phenomena to produce a random number. Because it doesn’t rely on written programming to extract said number value, but rather uses unpredictable natural entropy, it can be called truly random.
RNGs are also used in other gaming titles to influence when loot boxes might appear, how many enemies need beating, what the weather is during a particular session, or what a player might encounter as they progress through the game’s environment.
Crypto and Blockchain
The world of crypto gaming, although fraught with difficulty and controversy, is still proving popular with fans of both crypto and gaming alike. Early success stories such as CryptoKitties and Axie Infinity kicked off a wave of interest in this new playing style, which introduced many people to the concept of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and P2E (play-to-earn) titles.
The basic premise of both these games is to buy, collect, generate and sell ‘creatures’ within the game’s ecosystem. The difference between this and other traditional gaming titles is that the creatures have intrinsic value outside of their respective worlds. One CryptoKitty, for example, was sold for $100,000.
Other crypto games ask players to complete tasks in order to directly earn cryptocurrency, win cash prizes, or gain access to NFTs which could come in the form of weapons, armour, or other collectibles. Whereas all of these activities have been possible in video games for many years, the in-game value of an item has never translated into outer-world value in quite the same way. Crypto gaming and the use of the blockchain has changed all that.
Cloud Gaming
Despite progressing in fits and starts – and sometimes experiencing complete failure – cloud gaming is still a talking point in 2023, and something in which we are bound to see big developments soon. Although Google Stadia shut down earlier this year, other big names in the gaming world continue to work towards a comprehensive and operational cloud gaming service for customers. GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna and Shadow are some of the most successful options available right now.
Cloud gaming essentially means outsourcing the hard work to a remote server, then streaming gameplay to any device of your choice. This means that, in theory, you should be able to play AAA titles on your smartphone, your laptop, or any other device, even if it doesn’t have the capabilities of a games console or gaming PC.
As internet speeds increase and more of the world has access to mobile data, we are bound to see this form of gaming take off in a big way. Rather than confining gameplay to expensive hardware, cloud gaming makes all titles accessible to everyone, so long as they have a good enough internet connection and a device to play on.
