AR gaming is changing the industry, this executive says

Do you remember the Pokemon Go phenomenon? At its height, daily traffic for the game exceeded Twitter and Facebook use. The game was an introduction to AR gaming and was extremely popular because it was simple, engaging and allowed people to be a part of a community in ways that the gaming industry had not seen before.

“The Pokemon go explosion was really a cultural phenomenon in many ways. People that had very little desire to play video games were now spending hours of time playing this game. They were also walking an average of 1,473 extra steps per day and engaging with their communities more, especially through team events created to catch rare Pokemon or go on searches together. We also saw a boost in local economies and overall cultural awareness as people got outside and did things they normally wouldn’t do in their day-to-day lives,” Chief CX Innovation Officer at Arise Gaming, Jonathan Shroyer says.

Since then, the demand for AR gaming has grown. Games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Ingress Prime, Minecraft Earth, Jurassic World Alive, and The Walking Dead: Our World are all examples of how AR gaming has evolved over the years since Pokemon go went viral.

But what makes AR gaming so intriguing to people?

“AR gaming really is a fantastic way to combine the excitement of video games with reality, effectively changing the way we game and think about video games in general. It allows people to experience a world within our reality. Before, if you wanted to play video games you would go to your room, put your headset on and block out the world for a few hours. With AR gaming, you can go outside in your community and be a part of a hybrid world. This is very appealing to a lot of people that aren’t necessarily “gamers” themselves, and it is effectively transforming the industry” Shroyer explains.

Jonathan Shroyer is the Chief CX Innovation Officer at Arise Virtual Solutions and Arise Gaming. Shroyer has two decades of experience building companies and leaders up. CIO Journal, a publication of The Wall Street Journal, named Shroyer among its “Top CX Professionals of 2022.