Gaming is an incredibly popular hobby in 2023. In fact, video games have become a multi-billion-dollar industry, easily comparable to films. Not just in revenue generation, but dedication and passion. Video games like God of War, Half-Life, BioShock, and Fallout all have a dedicated fan base that considers them masterpieces, not just of gaming, but fiction and story-telling in general.
Games as entertainment media have been around for decades now. And, they’ve developed and changed considerably since the early years of Pong. Nowadays, we have incredibly complex games, with intertwining narratives, detailed gameplay, and story-telling worthy of some of the finest films. But, what is truly incredible, is that gaming will continue to change and become even more complex.
The Future Trends
As computer science grows and becomes more accessible, video games are going to become a lot better. Already indie developers are managing to produce games worthy of the Triple-A title. An excellent example here would be Hades, a game created by an independent studio, that has managed to reach the success of a big-budget video game.
However, that is not all. Big-budget, triple-A games are also changing, and becoming a lot more complex. Indeed, a lot has changed since the days of Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. RPG games like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Mass Effect, take heavy inspiration from the classics of science fiction and fantasy and create engaging worlds, immersive stories, and fantastic gameplay.
And it doesn’t end just at mainstream games. iGaming is also going through some incredible changes. For those that don’t know, iGaming refers to online gambling and sports betting. The industry has climbed to the forefront of culture and now rivals its land-based predecessor. More and more people are visiting gambling guides, and attempting to learn as much as possible about the industry, before they dive in full-throttle.
With all this incredible change, we are left wondering; what are the future trends that will make video games all the more exciting. In this article, we explore precisely that topic.
Improved AI Interactions
The more computer-savvy among you will already know that video game interactions are largely AI-generated, at least the ones by “unimportant” NPCs. Writers type out a couple of lines, which they then feed to an AI. The machine intelligence then proceeds to regurgitate them to the players in-game. This is how we got the famous “…before I took an arrow to the knee.” meme when Skyrim was first released.
However, what has a lot of folks excited is that AI is rapidly growing and changing. This means that, in a couple of years, it wouldn’t be surprising if game developers and writers use AI to create more immersive NPC dialogue. That way, writers can focus on the game’s more important aspects, leaving the unimportant details to the machine.
Easier Modding
Anyone with even a vague interest in gaming has likely heard of mods. For those who may now know, mods are, essentially, fan-made alterations and re-programs of a given game. Skyrim, for example, is known for its vibrant “modding” culture. We don’t have the time to go into detail about mods here, but needless to say, you need a certain degree of computer programming knowledge to create reliable mods.
However, some believe that in a decade or so, modding might become so easy, that even a layman could do it. Whether that is true or not, one thing is certain. Modding is certainly easier now than it ever has been, and it will likely become even easier in the future. It is true, that these new mods won’t be as impressive as some of the mods we have nowadays. But, those will continue to exist as well, in tandem with the new, easier-to-create mods we are discussing in this article.
Virtual Reality
We’ve all seen VR-based films like Tron and the Matrix, and every one of us has asked the same question: Could that be real one day? With the release of the Oculus Rift a few years ago, many people were excited to find that the answer to our question was “yes.”
Obviously, Virtual Reality is still not at the level of Tron. A lot needs to change before we can get into a VR world that is that immersive. For one thing, we need to find safe and secure ways to use VR, before we can fully integrate within the digital world. However, it is certainly a step in the right direction.
The dream of a Tron-like world, where video games can completely immerse you into their world is now closer than ever. And while many are wondering whether this is a good thing, most others are too excited to consider a bleak question like that one.
Augmented Reality
Virtual reality is not the only huge step in gaming. Augmented reality is another big development in the world of gaming. For those who may not be aware of the differences, VR is a completely digitally-generated world, which you can access through devices like the Oculus Rift. On the other hand, Augmented Reality (AR) is the technology that allows us to overlay digitally-generated images onto our world.
For example, with AR, you could be able to sit in your room and fully recognize that it is your room, with the chance that there is a digital dragon floating around your ceiling. With VR, not only would the dragon be CG, but so would the entire environment.
AR games have already become incredibly popular. One of the biggest examples here would be Pokemon Go, which took the world by storm in 2016. And while today, the game is mostly forgotten, a lot of similar games have been created and continue to get traction.
Conclusion
These are only a few of the reasons why some gamers are looking forward to the future. The gaming industry will likely continue to grow and thrive, and new incredible developments will come. Hopefully, they will be just as exciting as the ones we discussed in this article.