Virtual reality and augmented reality have revolutionized the gaming industry.

Games! They have been the notable form of entertainment pursuit for human civilization. In the Stone Age, the games humans played using shrapnel and wood sticks taught them to hunt and survive. It taught them communication skills. And as the humans evolved, transitioning, the games also reformed.

Games became one of the first areas revolutionized when technology permeated the industry. With time, as the gaming industry bloomed, developing games became one of the most required job profiles in the industry. The US retail video game market in the year 1990 and 1994 accounted for US$4.7 and US$7 billion, respectively.

With the integration of games in mobile phones, the gaming industry expedited. In 2002, the gaming industry contributed 23 million euros to the global market, whereas in 2004, this contribution surged to 184 million euros.

Over the past 15 years, as artificial intelligence and its subsets have pervaded every aspect of human life, gaming has become more renounced. Unlike earlier, where the video games only included remote controls and a huge screen, the consumers can now expect to have a 3D experience using virtual reality and augmented reality. Moreover, with the data analytics technology, the companies are not confined to developing games for entertainment purposes, but knowledge games or learning games also are gain momentum in the market. Additionally, these games can be operated both on the large screen and small screen.

Now, as COVID 19 ensued social distancing and nation-wide lockdowns, the consumption of gaming expanded. In 2020, the revenue from the worldwide PC games market was estimated at almost US$37billion, whereas the mobile gaming market generated an estimated US$77 billion. According to Activate Inc, a consulting firm estimated the overall time spent in gaming to be increased by 29% during the lockdown period. Moreover, the firm predicts that by the year 2024, the consumer gaming industry will reach a market value of US$198 billion.

Michael Wolf, the CEO of Activate Inc., foresee, “We’re about to see the videogame wars.”

Indeed, with the tech companies already investing in gaming platforms, this will definitely be possible in the near future. Tech companies like Google, Tencent, Sony, and Amazon have already prepared the roadmap to compel consumers using new gaming features with subscriptions. The Chinese conglomerate, Tencent, also the owner of the sensational game PUBG, generated gaming revenue of over 5.2 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter of 2019. Sony’s PlayStation 4 became the bestseller among current generation consoles and, in 2020, the unit sales of the PlayStation 4 reached more than 112 million units. Microsoft’s video gaming revenue for the year 2020 reached US$143 billion. The unit sale of PlayStation 2 reached the highest sale of 157.7 million in 2020. CoD: Black Ops is the best selling edition gaming franchise since 2019, with 30.99 million units, and Wii Sports, became the all-time highest-selling console games globally with 82.65 million units.

The firm found that 58% of gamers use or intend to use gaming subscription services, while 38% use cloud gaming services. This year, till October 27, 150 companies became part of mergers and acquisitions in some big tech companies, thus contributing to a value of more than US$2 billion in the global market. About 22% of people purchased virtual reality products during the virus outbreak. The firm has estimated that the US consumers and business spending on virtual and augmented reality will increase to almost US$19.8 billion in 2024.

Outlook

Undoubtedly, with technology evolving, the global gaming market has significantly expanded. Due to the changing dynamics in the world geopolitics, the gaming industry has also experienced a halt. The Chinese conglomerate lost US$42 billion with the PUBG ban by the Indian government.

However, with the consumer’s inclination towards gaming, and more huge investments by big techs, the gaming industry has a promising outlook.