The future of gaming has always been glistening. From the pure, simple addiction of Pong, through to the strategy of Pac Man, then to 3D immersion and massively-multiplayer online, there’s always something just around the corner to excite and ensnare an ever-growing customer base. But what’s next?
We’re never short of innovation in the gaming industry. The last five years have seen the arrival of virtual reality and augmented reality that has been interwoven in certain titles, while the rapid growth of smartphone capabilities has enabled crisp graphics and intricate games become portable.
Part of the art behind how gaming, and specifically, PC gaming has accelerated into the future at such an exponential rate is down to the dedicated customer base. Plenty of us enjoy our downtime, and playing video games make for perfect escapism – the 125 million active Steam accounts would no doubt agree. A 2017 report by Newzoo goes further to suggest that there are currently over 2.2 billion gamers that are active worldwide, pointing towards a gaming market that’s worth $108.9 billion.
It’s the value of the industry and the huge market behind it that gives ample room for businesses to take risks. Such risks can be seen in Epic Games’ free release of Fortnite Battle Royale – the current runaway leader in the online gaming stakes which has recently reported an astonishing 3.4 million players all in the game at the same time. In February 2018, Fortnite was alleged to have made around $126 million from gamers, a figure that would never have been thought possible for a free-to-play setup.
But what do these recent successes suggest for the future? Can we tell what direction the industry is heading in? While it’s safe to assume that graphics will become crisper with increasing resolution qualities and gameplay will be more intricate thanks to better processing power, it’s important to look further afield at what else is on the horizon. In this article, we explore three points on the future of PC gaming that are worth speculating.
1. eSports driving immersive experiences
As games have grown in complexity, so too has the players’ desire to outperform others. From trying to rise to the top of the leaderboard in PacMan at the video arcade to making sure that your kills-to-death ratio puts you in the top 100 players worldwide on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, gamers are obsessed with being shown to be the best.
The future will see developers eager to harness this as a way of encouraging players to keep plugging away and hone their skills.
With the eSports industry already topping $1.5 bn in value according to PC Gamer, there will be plenty of emphasis on making eSports accessible to a massively diverse audience.
EA Sports has already actioned this for their Fifa series, with places at international tournaments up for grabs for accomplished players who can rank highly enough in an elite game mode’s leaderboards over the course of pre-designated qualifying months. In fact, Fifa’s latest eSports tournament was televised on Sky Sports – representing a big step in taking coverage from the powerhouse of Twitch and placing it in the living rooms of viewers nationwide.
In the coming years, we can expect to see eSports become synonymous with the gaming industry, with titles developed with an emphasis on creating formats for players to take part in larger tournaments alongside other elite players. There will also be greater interconnectivity between eSport streaming services and gamers, with Twitch able to be streamed seamlessly in-game, and dedicated video services automatically publishing elite gamers’ performances for fans to see.
We can also expect to see titles take the step of bringing professional gamers closer to casual players in an attempt to forge wider fanbases for PC users in the coming years.
2. Games that get to know us
Of all the technological revolutions that are set to steer us into the future, machine learning might just be the one that has the biggest impact on the games industry.
Borne out of machine learning comes Dynamic Neural Networks (DNNs), a process that Microsoft is already aiming to optimise for Windows 10, where algorithms are modelled based on human behaviour in a bid to conform to a user’s preferences and thought processes.
Writing for Forbes, Jason Evangelho was keen to link DNNs to the future of gaming. While there is already evidence of AI and machine learning already in place in terms of game menus remembering its user’s preferred game modes and in countering their basic in-game strategies, Evangelho envisions DNNs creating a highly intuitive environment where AI can learn, for instance, how a player fights in-game and automatically teaches their CPU-based teammates to attack in the same way:
“How many times have you yelled at your boneheaded AI companions in Ghost Recon Wildlands, or been annoyed at the relative uselessness of followers in Skyrim? What if they could start learning your habits and change their combat style based on yours? What if they noticed your fondness for a bow, and started hitting nearby shops for the latest-and-greatest crossbows or looting dead enemies for explosive arrows?” Explains Evangelho in his article.
The level of computing power required to actively teach individual computerised characters to behave like this seems staggering, but through effective machine learning algorithms, it looks set to be a fixture in future gameplay.
3. Cloud gaming
Microsoft has an eye for innovation. From their first foray into gaming, with a 1981 MS-DOS release entitled Microsoft Adventure to today, the company has been looking at ways to target new audiences.
While the business has aligned itself in the console-based side of the industry, they’re now targeting more new audiences through innovative ideas – two billion-strong audiences, to be precise.
Last year Microsoft created a gaming cloud division of its workforce, with the aim of bringing a level of interconnectivity that’s never before been seen.
The logic behind the gamin cloud is solid. There are two billion players of games on all sorts of platforms, and by introducing cloud-based interconnectivity, Microsoft will be able to reach them no matter what machine they decide to play on.
This means that you could begin playing a PC game, leave the house to go to work, and continue to play under the same username on your mobile phone.
Microsoft’s ambitions were covered by tech website, The Verge, which also looked to the greater implications cloud gaming would have for game streaming. By tapping into the cloud, the door would be open to a gaming equivalent service to Netflix, or Spotify, where users can tap into an extensive catalogue to play at the touch of a button.
Such a development would have the potential change the way PC users digest their video games for good, and would challenge the level of service that the likes of Steam and other highly successful digital catalogues offer their consumers.
