Future Video Game Predictions: Big Hits, Mobile, and Distribution
Hello everyone, this is Cecilia. The year of the rabbit is 2023. We’re kicking off the new year with some forecasts for the topics that will dominate the discourse in the gaming industry. Yet first…
Top gaming news this past week:
Wizards of the Coast shelved at least five titles and made employment cuts after ZeniMax employees at Microsoft’s ZeniMax studio established a union.
Microsoft gained the CWA as an antitrust ally as a result of union support.
Crystal globe
A predictable year for the games business goes against its grain, just as players dislike being railroaded through a tale. But since we’re in the business of planning forward, we’ll outline what we believe will be significant in the upcoming months. With a flurry of acquisitions pushing M&A activity in the sector to an all-time high, a unionization push, and a deluge of delayed titles, 2023 is shaping up to be one of the most active years in the history of the games business.
Let’s begin with some overarching themes we’re observing:
recuperation from gaming
According to projections from gaming analytics company NewZoo, the games market will experience a 4.3% decrease in 2022 to $184.4 billion after two years of Covid-enhanced growth. One explanation is that several much-awaited movies that were supposed to be released were postponed.
Now, 2023 is completely packed: games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from Nintendo Co., Dead Space from Electronic Arts Inc., Final Fantasy XVI from Square Enix Holdings Co., Diablo IV from Activision Blizzard Inc., and others are coming out this year.
This year, consumer spending on video games is projected to increase as a result of the slate of new releases. But that only tells a portion of the tale. The majority of gamers still choose long-running hits. Only Call of Duty, one of the top 10 games of the previous year, was really launched in 2022, according to NewZoo. (Or two games if you count Warzone from Call of Duty 2.0).
But according to NewZoo, the most popular games last year were what are known as “live-service” games. These games are updated frequently in an effort to keep players interested and spending money on upgrades and rewards. This year’s boom for companies like EA and Activision will probably come from a mix of new games and sustained interest in old favorites.
According to Tom Wijman, chief analyst for games at NewZoo, “there’s less and less place for new experiences and new IP to establish itself or make a dent at the top of these rankings.” The fact that all of the major things are still in existence makes it tougher and harder to become the next big thing.
Is it “platform agnostic”?
Microsoft Corp. has recently referred to its strategy for gaming as “play where you want” or platform agnostic. On the Xbox software for PCs and Xbox consoles, as well as through the cloud gaming service provided by Game Pass, you can play Microsoft games. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer once called “walled gardens” “such a 1990s construct” in a dig at competitor Sony Group Corp.’s plan to retain players in its ecosystem by creating games unique to the PlayStation console.
Why Study Kinesiology?
There will be more focus on content distribution than a particular platform because of Microsoft’s plans to develop an Xbox mobile game store, which will include material it will acquire through its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Gamers will always like their $800 PC towers and $500 living room boxes, but the hardware will become less of a factor in determining which firm has the best gaming experience. Even Sony has softened a bit on its walled garden strategy for the PlayStation, releasing its multiplayer or live-service games on PC as soon as they are available. (However, there might still be a year between Sony’s single-player PlayStation and PC game debuts.)
According to Joost Rietveld, an associate professor at the UCL School of Management who specializes in digital platforms, there may be a “decoupling of the distribution platform (Game Pass) from the hardware platform (Xbox consoles). He claims that complete control over the hardware is the price. Given that Microsoft sells consoles at or below cost and that it was never meant to be a hardware firm, the loss of Microsoft’s influence over the entire ecosystem is not a big deal.
mobile gaming
The mobile gaming business was completely disrupted by Apple Inc.’s privacy modifications that were implemented in 2021, making it more difficult for advertisers to target consumers and assess the success of their campaigns. The market is set to become much more constrained as Google works on its own reforms.
In 2023, gaming and advertising companies will be frantically trying to figure out how to be profitable and effective as mobile games take over more and more market share.
Other forecasts include:
In spite of opposition from the US Federal Trade Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, analysts generally agree that the Activision-Microsoft merger should be completed in 2023.
After the significant crypto crash of 2022 and the gamers’ passionate uprising, we’ll see a reduced rate of blockchain game announcements.
As the government-funded Savvy Gaming Group keeps spending its intended $38 billion fund in gaming companies, Saudi Arabia will become a more important player in the games industry.
The majority of people in 2023 will still disagree on the definition of “the metaverse” after two years of hoopla.
Fact or Fiction When Ranking Elements? Let’s Dispel a Few Myths!
The majority of the financing, sponsorship and fan interest previously devoted to esports will continue to be absorbed by the gaming influencer sector, including Twitch streamers and YouTubers.
Although the PlayStation VR2 ($550) will be available in 2023, there will still be a small market for virtual reality. Before investing hundreds of dollars in the hardware, many gamers are still waiting for the “killer app.” While games like Beat Saber from 2018, VR Chat from 2014, and Half-Life: Alyx from 2020 are all excellent, the bar for a game that will help promote mainstream adoption is high.
Games to play
I’ve started playing the popular survival game Vallheim again after a recent patch; it’s the ideal cool, wintertime multiplayer game for hanging out with your pals.
Top gaming news this past week:
Wizards of the Coast shelved at least five titles and made employment cuts after ZeniMax employees at Microsoft’s ZeniMax studio established a union.
Microsoft gained the CWA as an antitrust ally as a result of union support.
Crystal globe
A predictable year for the games business goes against its grain, just as players dislike being railroaded through a tale. But since we’re in the business of planning forward, we’ll outline what we believe will be significant in the upcoming months. With a flurry of acquisitions pushing M&A activity in the sector to an all-time high, a unionization push, and a deluge of delayed titles, 2023 is shaping up to be one of the most active years in the history of the games business.
Let’s begin with some overarching themes we’re observing:
recuperation from gaming
According to projections from gaming analytics company NewZoo, the games market will experience a 4.3% decrease in 2022 to $184.4 billion after two years of Covid-enhanced growth. One explanation is that several much-awaited movies that were supposed to be released were postponed.
Now, 2023 is completely packed: games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from Nintendo Co., Dead Space from Electronic Arts Inc., Final Fantasy XVI from Square Enix Holdings Co., Diablo IV from Activision Blizzard Inc., and others are coming out this year.
This year, consumer spending on video games is projected to increase as a result of the slate of new releases. But that only tells a portion of the tale. The majority of gamers still choose long-running hits. Only Call of Duty, one of the top 10 games of the previous year, was really launched in 2022, according to NewZoo. (Or two games if you count Warzone from Call of Duty 2.0).
But according to NewZoo, the most popular games last year were what are known as “live-service” games. These games are updated frequently in an effort to keep players interested and spending money on upgrades and rewards. This year’s boom for companies like EA and Activision will probably come from a mix of new games and sustained interest in old favorites.
According to Tom Wijman, chief analyst for games at NewZoo, “there’s less and less place for new experiences and new IP to establish itself or make a dent at the top of these rankings.” The fact that all of the major things are still in existence makes it tougher and harder to become the next big thing.
Is it “platform agnostic”?
Microsoft Corp. has recently referred to its strategy for gaming as “play where you want” or platform agnostic. On the Xbox software for PCs and Xbox consoles, as well as through the cloud gaming service provided by Game Pass, you can play Microsoft games. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer once called “walled gardens” “such a 1990s construct” in a dig at competitor Sony Group Corp.’s plan to retain players in its ecosystem by creating games unique to the PlayStation console.
There will be more focus on content distribution than a particular platform because of Microsoft’s plans to develop an Xbox mobile game store, which will include material it will acquire through its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Gamers will always like their $800 PC towers and $500 living room boxes, but the hardware will become less of a factor in determining which firm has the best gaming experience. Even Sony has softened a bit on its walled garden strategy for the PlayStation, releasing its multiplayer or live-service games on PC as soon as they are available. (However, there might still be a year between Sony’s single-player PlayStation and PC game debuts.)
According to Joost Rietveld, an associate professor at the UCL School of Management who specializes in digital platforms, there may be a “decoupling of the distribution platform (Game Pass) from the hardware platform (Xbox consoles). He claims that complete control over the hardware is the price. Given that Microsoft sells consoles at or below cost and that it was never meant to be a hardware firm, the loss of Microsoft’s influence over the entire ecosystem is not a big deal.
mobile gaming
The mobile gaming business was completely disrupted by Apple Inc.’s privacy modifications that were implemented in 2021, making it more difficult for advertisers to target consumers and assess the success of their campaigns. The market is set to become much more constrained as Google works on its own reforms.
In 2023, gaming and advertising companies will be frantically trying to figure out how to be profitable and effective as mobile games take over more and more market share.
Other forecasts include:
In spite of opposition from the US Federal Trade Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, analysts generally agree that the Activision-Microsoft merger should be completed in 2023.
After the significant crypto crash of 2022 and the gamers’ passionate uprising, we’ll see a reduced rate of blockchain game announcements.
As the government-funded Savvy Gaming Group keeps spending its intended $38 billion fund in gaming companies, Saudi Arabia will become a more important player in the games industry.
The majority of people in 2023 will still disagree on the definition of “the metaverse” after two years of hoopla.
The majority of the financing, sponsorship and fan interest previously devoted to esports will continue to be absorbed by the gaming influencer sector, including Twitch streamers and YouTubers.
Although the PlayStation VR2 ($550) will be available in 2023, there will still be a small market for virtual reality. Before investing hundreds of dollars in the hardware, many gamers are still waiting for the “killer app.” While games like Beat Saber from 2018, VR Chat from 2014, and Half-Life: Alyx from 2020 are all excellent, the bar for a game that will help promote mainstream adoption is high.
Games to play
I’ve started playing the popular survival game Vallheim again after a recent patch; it’s the ideal cool, wintertime multiplayer game for hanging out with your pals.
