Traditional Gaming Is Dead - This is the Future
Written by Connor Beaton, published 4th September 2010
While attending Edinburgh Interactive Festival, I noticed a common theme appear in almost all of the conference sessions and all of my interviews; the question of “what will happen to gaming in the future?”. Having listened to industry giants, indie developers, game designers and hardcore gamers, I’ve compiled a list of some of the things we’ll be seeing happen to the gaming medium in the next five years or sooner.
Digital Distribution and Ultra DLC
Digital distribution’s been around for a long time, but it’s time for it to be kicked up a notch. A huge number of PC gamers use Steam and similar services to download games thanks to the speediness of delivery and ridiculously cheap prices, but Doodle Jump creator Igor Pusenjak sees something bigger in the pipeline.
“I think you’ll see more and more need to create this serialised content, where you don’t necessarily get 200 levels the day you buy the game, because honestly what’s the point?” Igor posed this question when I spoke to him over two weeks ago. “You’re not really going to play them all, and I think it’s more exciting to start with less content and keep on adding the content as you go on.”
There are, of course, some flaws with this business model which extend beyond the typical “not everybody has broadband” argument. “The problem is [that you have] people who get into the game early on and they sort of grow with the content that you’re adding, and then you have people who get there later on when there is all this content in the game and they get a little lost. This is something we’re trying to figure out how to best address right now.”
Adapt for the Recession
Chris Deering opened the conference with many words on the future of the industry; he did speak of the “electronic aftermarket”, which very much reflected Pusenjak’s views on constantly-updated games, but his real focus was the recession. Deering noted that recessions used to be good for the games industry, but that isn’t true in 2010, because now there are other forms of cheap entertainment rivalling gaming. This new, affordable competitor is, in fact, the Internet. Deering pointed out that more and more people each year spend their free time watching videos on YouTube instead of playing games, something that didn’t happen five or ten years ago.
As a result, the market needs to change; the economics of traditional high-end games are now treacherous, and the industry needs to “re-assess platform strategy” and “maximise ancillary income”, suggesting that downloadable content not only adds new value and brings the game back into the public eye, but also helps monetise pre-owned games.
Embrace New Technology
And, as always, the industry is changing; Ray Maguire assures us that 40% of all UK television sets will be 3D-enabled by 2014, a mere four years away. Pusenjak lamented at the iPhone’s lack of peripherals, something which doesn’t affect consoles and computers. Kinect and Move prove that console manufacturers aren’t afraid to launch new technology for older consoles; it’s just up to developers to embrace new technology and encourage gamers to embrace it too.
Ultimately, this’ll also aid monetisation; you can’t pirate peripherals, and nobody will pirate games that require those peripherals if they don’t own them. It’s a win-win scenario for manufacturers and developers. So, what can we expect in the future? More digital distribution and games that are updated regularly with fresh content, but games that’ll suck your money continually and force you to buy more peripherals. Or are we being a bit too pessimistic?
In reality, what we’re looking at will be cheaper games with more longevity and more unique gameplay. Digital distribution will be more commonplace, but instead of jumping through hoops, we’ll probably see one service - probably Steam - become incredibly popular and streamlined, allowing users to purchase and download a game in one click. Motion controllers will become less gimmicky and instead be integrated into most games, but not necessarily required. It’s a good vision for the future, and one to which I’m sure we’re all looking forward.