Changes We Need To See In The Gaming Industry 

Video games are changing fast. Over the past 40 years, they have gone from the booming arcade industry to the console age starting with Mario. They then quickly moved to the age of 3D graphics, to shooters becoming the standout genre, to tournaments worth millions of dollars. Recently, we’ve moved to the precipice of a full virtual reality takeover within the next five years.  

However, everything isn’t perfect. With more power comes more problems, and although gaming is quite powerful, it’s also garnered its fair share of issues over the years. With that said, we’re going to take a quick look at some of the changes we’d love to see as this industry develops. Perhaps some of them could give us an even brighter future to look forward to.  

“I’ve got my eye on you!” by peasap is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 

More Free Play Options 

With all of the great things that gaming has become, cheap isn’t one of them. Games, DLC, in-game purchases, hardware, and so much more make video games quite an expensive hobby. But a few notable exceptions will hopefully become a guide for the rest of the industry. Freeplay options have certainly started to catch on with Pokemon GO, Tetris 99, and free online slots leading the charge.  

These titles are great examples of helping the customer save money while still getting them interested in the product. The developer then leaves it up to the player to decide if they want to spend additional money as they proceed through the game. If the game is good, chances are the developer will see a return.  

Many sites offer games that will have free spins upon sign-up, and with the promise of free play, there’s more reason to take that first step. These slots, while quite varied by nature, give the user an introduction and some experience of the gameplay. Similarly, the Xbox Game Pass is offered at $14.99/month, but once the customer has purchased it, they have access to fan favourites as well as new releases. It’s give-and-take relationship building that we believe will benefit gaming the most in the long run. Sooner or later, customers will start to expect a little extra upon initial investment, and rightly so! 

“Virtual Reality Demo” by National Institutes of Health (NIH) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 

Please Integrate Virtual Reality Well 

It sounds like such a simple concept, but even in our new age of advanced technology, developers fail to create games with VR in mind. It always seemed slapped on at the last minute with little care. But now that the world is so invested in the Metaverse, companies that don’t cater to this new technology could be left in the dust.  

Industry icons such as Samus, Master Chief, and Lara Croft would all be perfect candidates for the VR treatment, yet we don’t have any quality titles to dig into. As it stands now, we believe that has to do with the high price tag of VR hardware and the need to hire new, specialised teams. But when those obstacles are overcome, we need to have recognisable faces in VR. Right now, we have a bunch of glorified tech demos and it shows.  

“File:PGA 2019 Cyberpunk 2077.jpg” by Klapi is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 

Finish Games Before Releasing Them 

Cyberpunk 2077, No Man’s Sky, and Street Fighter V are great examples of games that didn’t become great until a considerable period of time after release. Who would have thought it would have taken over a year to get a game as hyped as Cyberpunk 2077 to be ”playable.” Certainly not us. But that’s, unfortunately, the current state of game development.  

As customers, we need to put our foot down and postpone purchasing or ask for refunds when a game releases in an unfinished state. But we also need to realise the development period of a game is a tough one with teams often getting a percentage of the time they need to finish. When developers start giving themselves more time (even though Cyberpunk 2077 was afforded quite a bit) and customers all start accepting long development times, we’ll start to see developer promises being kept. 

Games will release as intended, and trailers won’t have to be taken with a grain of salt. This one’s a big ask, but we sincerely hope it’s taken seriously, as “faulty” development could cause major issues in the industry moving forward.  

With these few adjustments in mind, the gaming industry could see upward growth until who knows when. We just have to hope these issues are taken seriously.