Gaming through the ages - how the industry has changed in recent years

Technological progress is advancing at a rapid pace and is bringing about changes worldwide that affect practically all industries. Gaming is by no means excluded from this. Strictly speaking, it is actually one of the industries that has changed the most in the wake of new technologies and the developments that go with them. In this article, we would like to shed a little more light on exactly how these changes are expressed.

The popularity of esports has increased dramatically

For a long time, esports wasn't even considered a sport, but that seems to be slowly changing. Although e-sports is not yet classified as a sport in Germany - on the grounds that the physical is missing - it looks different in many countries. In any case, e-sports are currently experiencing a real boom. For one thing, there are more and more events in the field. On the other hand, the number of viewers is steadily increasing. Also, the current pandemic is benefiting esports as it's easy to reconcile with social distancing. In principle, even larger events can be held without lockdowns or other restrictions playing a role.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are slowly gaining ground

Admittedly, the initial hype has subsided in both augmented reality and virtual reality. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that both technologies have enormous potential and will change gaming in the short or long term. The technologies are already being used by companies such as Sunmaker to offer players a special live experience. In general, a lot can be done with the new realities in terms of atmosphere and as soon as both technologies are a little more mature, numerous possibilities open up. Gamers should be prepared for the fact that the reality in video games will hardly differ from our real one in the future.

Smartphones are considered to be the game consoles of the future

Game hits like Snake on the old Nokia phones were extremely popular, but only very few people perceived them as real games. This is no longer the case with mobile games or games for the smartphone. Mobile gaming has made a remarkable development in recent years and there are more and more people who prefer the smartphone as a game medium to consoles and PCs. The enormous selection of games, which also includes many "free" games, speaks in favor of mobile gaming. The only catch is that the hardware available is often insufficient for demanding games. However, that will change with the expansion of 5G and the further development of cloud gaming.

Wearables are good fun to play

Wearables are not yet too common in gaming, but they are enjoying increasing popularity. Among other things, the use of a smartwatch can make sense for games like Pokémon GO, for example, as the kilometers run can be easily read on the wrist. However, this is only one of numerous examples that show the potential of wearables. As soon as the useful accessories are a little more mature, it can be assumed that more gamers will use them. After all, it cannot be denied - wearables can increase gaming fun.