The gaming sphere has fast become one of the largest and most profitable industries in the Western world, with the video game industry topping all other forms of entertainment aside from TV. There are hundreds of factors that have led to this meteoric rise, from unprecedented advances in technological research and development to the global adoption of smartphones, but digital is at the center of it all, and the best is yet to come. Here we’ll look at the current landscape across digital industries and the developments on the horizon that promise to change them forever.
Continually Online
At present, the main focus across industries – and especially in entertainment – is instantaneous access coupled with ongoing support. In the gambling industry, online bookmakers have invested significantly into developing their betting platforms by allowing players to access odds and follow games remotely and in real-time. This investment has created a new standard for players, giving them greater control over their decisions and greater security to boot.
Meanwhile, major publishers in the video-gaming industry have largely pivoted away from single-player narrative experiences, towards continually online and updated “live services” that release new content on a regular basis to engage an audience of regular and returning players. Popular iterations of these services offer collectible cosmetics in the form of microtransactions, as well as a timeline of new seasonal content and gameplay updates. With the live service firmly entrenched as a format of choice for larger publishers, innovators are already looking to the next wave of innovation, which is much sooner at hand than it might appear.
Immutable Internet
NFTs have been a subject of intense conversation since their emergence in the middle of 2021, representing a significant utility of blockchain technology beyond fueling cryptocurrencies. The blockchain is purported to be the bleeding edge of the new digital age, with its immutable ledgers and smart contracts allowing for true ownership of digital resources and information.
The applications of blockchain, and NFTs in particular, could see a profound change in the way we conduct business online – and in the fabric of industries that adopt them. For example, companies in the online gambling industry can form decentralized outfits in the crypto space, connecting players and oddsmakers via smart contracts and protecting larger-scale bets. In the video gaming industry, items and collectibles could be sold as one-off NFTs, and also transferred between games – revolutionizing in-game cosmetics marketplaces.
Interconnected Worlds
Another major player in the future of digital industries is Mark Zuckerberg himself, who recently announced the creation of the Metaverse: a network of interconnected digital spaces, accessible by VR and AR technology to create a new, immersive brand of online communication. The Metaverse threatens to completely disrupt consumer relationships with the internet, forging new pathways for the community, trade, and entertainment. Combined with the growth of NFT marketplaces, the Metaverse is already pulling brick-and-mortar industries into digital spaces before any official launch.
It isn’t possible to completely condense the possibilities presented by these game-changing developments in digital spaces, especially where an entire existing digital ecosystem is concerned. But with the mass adoption of complicated blockchain frameworks already underway, there is no doubt that the next decade will be totemic for digital industries.
