Over the past few years, the gaming industry has been going through significant innovation and acceleration. This is not stopping. More growth and acceleration are to be expected in future years. Live gaming has become an important part of the gaming industry. In 2018, live gaming did have significant growth.
In this article, we intend to show you the trends in the live gaming industry that showed up in 2018.
The Top Trends of Live Gaming that Showed Up in 2018
1. The Rise of Cryptocurrency
Since the announcement of the bitcoin back in 2009, digital money has managed to become part of many transactions. In 2018, more and more live gamers want to use digital currencies. The players prefer to use the virtual cash to make deposits and withdrawals. According to a report published by Digital Trends,after a group of 1000 millennial gamers had been surveyed, it was discovered that over 80% of these gamers were interested in using digital currencies to make gaming transactions.
As of 2018, the crypto universe has expanded. It does not just have bitcoin in it nowadays. There are more digital currencies that players can use to make their gaming transactions.
Below, we have good examples of the main digital currencies and Blockchain technology which have been revolutionizing the gaming industry in 2018:
- CryCash – This cryptocurrency is named after its first major partner Crytek. Crytek is a gaming giant with a huge fan base. Examples of the bestseller titles from the gaming company include Crysis, FarCry, and War Face.
- DMarket – This cryptocurrency has been helping to link different gaming universes by linking their game trades. The cryptocurrency brought smart contracts, and blockchain to the gaming industry.
- EnjinCoin – The official EnjinCoin website was launched back in 2009. The game-focused platform boasts of more than 18.7 million gamers and more than 60 million views each month. More than 250,000 gaming communities use EnjinCoin ecosystem. Through EnjinCoin, gamers are able to trade assets between communities and games via the open-source digital wallet.
- Game Machine – This is a gaming ecosystem that targets three audiences: investors, gamers, and game developers. Game Machine makes use of the GMiT token and allows the game developers to create tokens within the ecosystem. It also allows the game developers to launch their ownICOs.
Things were made easier for live gamers who prefer using digital currencies in 2018 by the fact that more live gaming platforms started accepting virtual currencies.A growing number of online casinos have been accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a method of payment
2. eSports
When it comes to discussing live games, one trend that cannot be ignored is the eSports trend. eSports has continued to grow and develop over the years. That growth did not stop when 2018 finally arrived. More events were held in 2018 with both amateur and professional gamers being involved. eSports events get more and more competitive, especially when there is a high likelihood of winning a huge sum of money.
The most popular eSport games played in 2018 tournaments fell under 3 main categories. These included:
- Real-time strategy
- Multiplayer online battle arena
- First-person shooter
eSports is getting more fans. This is largely due to the massive exposure it is getting from live gaming platforms such as YouTube Gaming and Twitch. It is estimated that by 2019, the eSports should have more than 427 million people watching it worldwide.
3. Brand Slots
People are usually more familiar with characters in movies and TV shows. This is the reason why live games based on TV shows and movie characters usually cause more stir when compared to games which feature unknown characters. The reasons why branded slots succeeded more in 2018 is obvious. We already love the characters whom we have probably known for a long time after watching them in the movies or the TV shows. This makes the branded games even more exciting to play.
A good example of a branded slot that appeared in 2018 is the Game of Thrones. Micro gaming turned Game of Thrones, a popular TV show, into a video slot game.Obviously, the game is based on the HBO fantasy drama series.
4. Online Gambling
One of the live gaming trends that appeared to have had a lot of impact in 2018 is the online gambling trend. Sports betting and live casino appear to be attracting more and more people. This probably made possible by the fact that it is becoming much easier for people to participate in online gambling. The internet has made things much easier. For example, people who enjoy live casino games can use Playtech live casino to enjoy their casino games online without leaving their house.
Numbers don’t lie. When you look at the revenue that the online gambling industry has managed to generate over the years, it becomes apparent that the trend can only continue to grow stronger. Back in 2017, the industry generated more than $620 billion. In 2018, this number was expected to rise to over $700 billion. By the time we reach the year 2022, the revenue is very likely to have crossed the $1trillion mark.
5. The Rise of Mobile Live Gaming Platforms
Live gaming used to require the gamers to have access to a computer. However, more and more live gaming companies are realizing the power of improving the mobile live gaming platforms. This could be due to the realization that almost every live gamer has a mobile device nowadays. Additionally, since the gamers carry their mobile devices with them, they are capable of playing live games at anytime.
In order to give you a better idea of what we are talking about, it would be better for us to show you the statistics in terms of revenue generated by mobile gaming in 2018. According to NewZoo, the gaming industry generated about$137.9 billion in 2018. Mobile gaming is responsible for more than 50% of this revenue.
Mobile device developers have continued to improve their devices. They are producing devices with improved graphics, better designs, and with advanced technical features. This can only indicate that the future of mobile gaming looks bright.In the future, the mobile platform stands the chance of taking online casinos to new heights.
6. More Gamification
If you are new to gaming, you are likely to wonder what exactly we mean by the term gamification. Simply defined, gamification refers to the process where any necessary steps are taken to ensure that a player is totally engrossed in the online casino gaming. Gamification has had significant growth in 2018. The main goal behind gamification is to make sure that people who enjoy casinos are given something different in their online slots games. This helped in fighting market saturation.
Developers had already noticed the trend that more people enjoy playing live games which feature storylines, narratives, power-ups, unlockable content, avatars, and leveling-up. These are the game elements which have the potential to hold the player’s attention for a longtime. Realizing this, the game developers embarked on developing bigger and flashy games for online casinos.
Gamification,just like companies have leveraged it in the past to entice new customers to try out a new service or brand, can be used by game developers to get people who enjoy live games to try out new games. It can also encourage the players to play more games online. Since gamification will offer the gamers something to work towards, this can keep the gamers interested. What this tells you is that gamification is not going anywhere. It will only continue growing even stronger in the future.
7. Virtual Reality Gaming
When people are having a serious discussion about gaming, it is impossible to leave out Virtual Reality (VR) gaming. The popularity of Virtual Reality (VR) software is rising. A good example of a Virtual Reality game that shows that this VR software is on the rise is The Lab. The Lab was not even released in2018. It was released back in 2016 by Valve Corporation. In 2018, more improvements were made in the virtual reality gaming industry. According to Statista, Virtual Reality gaming was worth only $3.6 billion back in 2016. In a span of 4 years, which brings us to 2020, the Virtual Reality video game industry is expected to have grown to $22.9 billion. This shows significant growth.
The adoption of Virtual Reality in the live gaming industry such as in the casinos in 2018 did improve the gaming experience greatly.Virtual Reality Casino Games make the whole gaming experience immersive. The players feel like they are actually inside an actual land-based casino. It did allow multiple people to play at the same time.
The reason why the Virtual Reality trend will continue to grow stronger is that it enables the gaming industries to retain their players. It makes it possible for people to enjoy the full thrill of being in a real casino while they sit at home. Individuals get to enjoy the experience of being in the game rooms, interacting with players and other dealers, and even operating the slot machines.
8. Gaming Became More Social
With the improvements being made in the networking features and broadband connectivity, it is becoming possible to make live gaming even more social. To give you an example of a popular video game that has been promoting social interactions throughout 2018, consider Minecraft. Minecraft has already managed to become a popular venue where gamers and friends meet to not only talk butal so work collaboratively. More games are expected to be released in the future, which put more focus into social experiences rather than the gaming experience.
While some people do enjoy gaming alone, socializing has been an aspect of humanity since the beginning of time. Companies which can combine both the socializing aspect and the gaming experience will be able to attract bigger audiences. This suggests that the line between social media and live gaming will continue to become blurred as the years progress.
9. Players Becoming Creators
If you ask any gamer whether he or she would like to be involved in the development of a video game, the answer you will get is a solid yes. Gamers wouldn’t want to just play. They would also want to take part in creating what they will play in the future. Although modding has been around in the PC gaming arena, it was not yet big enough. This trend did appear more in 2018 though.
The main reason why this trend will continue to grow is that companies are realizing the importance of giving their customers exactly what they want. By involving players in building the games they want to play, they will be able to make the games more interesting. This will attract more players.
10. Diversity in Terms of Players
In the early days, people would have considered live gaming to be for teenagers.This is no longer the case.
To prove this, let’s look at the 2018 statistics below sourced from Statista:
- In the United States, only 28% of the gamers were under the adult age which is 18 years old.
- 29% of the gamers were between ages 18 and 35 years.
- 20% of the gamers were between 36and 49 years.
- 23% of the gamers were above 50years old.
As you can see, adults in 2018 dominated the gaming industry. When you do the math, you will realize that 72% of the US gamers are adults.
The Live Gaming Industry Will Continue to Evolve
After going through the top trends for the live gaming industry, we have outlined above, you have probably realized that the gaming industry will continue growing. One thing to note is that we have not covered all the gaming trends which showed up in 2018. We have only focused on the major trends. In the years to come, gamers should expect more growth and improvements. Gaming companies will continue working hard to come up with better ways to make live gaming more enjoyable.