Trends 2013
In 2013, the year was known for the transitions in gaming as the two main consoles were released, but while these helped the transition, in 2013, we saw new ways to share, new ways to involve the community, new ways to experience games, across various platforms and systems. Here are the trends that shaped the year in video games, and that will influence game development and business in the years to come.
Live streaming
Livestreaming games and sharing game play videos had been around a lot longer before 2013, but it was that year that video game voyeurism gained real traction and headed towards mainstream acceptance and usability.
Twitch has been the main streaming site, many mainstream game developers such as Sony Online Entertainment to Mojang to CCP and others, have updated their games with Twitch integration, for easy livestreaming of gameplay.
Over the years, integrating the mere functionality of livestreaming and video sharing will become standard for games and platforms -- the next step is for game developers to design games with observer-friendliness in mind from the start.
Twitch has been the main streaming site, many mainstream game developers such as Sony Online Entertainment to Mojang to CCP and others, have updated their games with Twitch integration, for easy livestreaming of gameplay.
Over the years, integrating the mere functionality of livestreaming and video sharing will become standard for games and platforms -- the next step is for game developers to design games with observer-friendliness in mind from the start.
Virtual Reality
The thought of virtual reality has excited many gamers over the years, and when the announcement of Oculus Rift occurred it became a crowd funded success. But 2013 is when thousands of Rift dev kits shipped to developers, and the potential of this hardware began to materialize.
The marriage of VR and video games isn't limited to Oculus VR. Sony is rumored to have a PlayStation VR solution in the works, and other start-ups, including former Valve engineers at Technical Illusions with the augmented/virtual realty Cast-AR system, will be exploring the mainstream commercialization of VR in the years ahead.
Trends 2014
In 2014, the year of the "mega deal," when massive, high-profile companies were acquired by even more massive, higher-profile companies. For example, in march Facebook acquired the rights to the rising Oculus Rift for $2 billion, afterwards in August the online retailer Amazon bought Twitch the game streaming and broadcast company, this deal was worth $970 million.
The flood of Steam games
Valve has been making steps to open Steam up to more developers so they can take advantage of the platform's sizable footprint of 100 million registered users for a couple years now. During 2014 Valve lowered the barriers, which caused a massive influx of games to fill the store in 2014. Also this decisions to open up the gates to Steam allowed many more developers to launch their own games.
Discover-ability has been an issue for a while now, and will be for years to come. And while moves like Steam Discovery are absolutely welcome, the best tack going forward is for game developers is to treat storefronts like the distribution channels they are, and to not rely on them too much as marketing vessels for your games.
Developers now can use popular You Tubers to get a decent amount of publicity.
Building relationships with You Tubers is very important for developers now because if they get someone popular on their side who has Millions of followers the developers will get millions of viewers from the You tuber wanting the game.
Discover-ability has been an issue for a while now, and will be for years to come. And while moves like Steam Discovery are absolutely welcome, the best tack going forward is for game developers is to treat storefronts like the distribution channels they are, and to not rely on them too much as marketing vessels for your games.
YouTube and Developers
YouTube has become a great way for developers to show off their game to a wider audience especially through entertainers who use YouTube as a source of popularity.Developers now can use popular You Tubers to get a decent amount of publicity.
Building relationships with You Tubers is very important for developers now because if they get someone popular on their side who has Millions of followers the developers will get millions of viewers from the You tuber wanting the game.
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