Deepak Aravind is the Founder, CEO and the Creative Director of Coimbatore-based Creative Monkey Games and Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Unleashing the power of creativity and passion, Deepak has been a cricket fanatic since childhood and experienced a phenomenal gaming journey so far. Founded in 2015, Creative Monkey focuses on developing games in the sports segment especially cricket, racing, and casual genre. Well-known for their super engaging and high-quality games, it is a strong team of 12 creative individuals with a deep domain experience who are passionate about gaming. Every game delivered to gamers is the result of their fuelling passion and immense hard work and dedication.
Gaming was a predominant trend in the West. However, with the rise of its popularity among the youth, gaming fever caught on in India as well. In fact, gaming has emerged as a lucrative business sector. The online gaming market is extremely diverse and fast-paced. As avid gamers are constantly craving for better gaming experience, they are no longer satisfied with the existing technologies. In order to retain players, software developers and game creators need to keep inventing and implementing new technologies.
According to the report by KPMG, the e-gaming industry is poised to increase at the rate of 22.1% from INR 43.8 billion to INR 118.8 billion by 2023. With the steady rise in consumption volumes, it is expected that soon local development and monetisation of the gaming industry will catch up.
Trends for E-Gaming Industry in 2021
The Covid-19 outbreak resulted in worldwide lockdowns that resulted in people being confined indoors with a lot of time to kill. As a result, the millennials took to playing online games. As a result, while the physical sporting world remained uneventful, gaming world came to life and became a promising alternative for the players. However, the online gaming industry was witnessing a meteoric boom even before the lockdown.
Here are the 5 key trends that are likely to shape the e-gaming industry in 2021:
- Roll-out of 5G Networks
As the 5G network ushers in an era of excitement and innovation in the current year, e-gaming will be one of the areas leveraging this development the most. The roll-out of 5G means faster download speeds, better streaming capabilities, and superior real-time gaming experiences. Without having to install new infrastructure, e-gaming with the help of 5G will enable gamers to bolster their experience. 5G network will also foster virtualization and create network slices, with each slice designated a particular purpose. Network slicing ensures smooth 3D augmented reality experience for the spectators, allowing them instant replay on their devices and 360-degree views of their gameplays.
- Rise of Mobile Gaming
The advent of 5G will provide the necessary thrust for making mobile gaming accessible to all. Research has shown that over 2.2 billion people have played games on their mobile phones in the past decade. The ongoing improvements in Chipset technology will bring mobile devices at par with gaming consoles like Xbox. This will mean more gamers and favourable outcomes for companies associated with e-gaming. In addition, it will also mean improved games at affordable prices.
- GaaS & Cloud Gaming
The widespread success of Software-as-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-Service (PaaS) has led to the model being adopted in the gaming industry as well. It is known as the Gaming as Services (GaaS) model and is touted to have the potential to transform the gaming industry completely. This service is expected to enable gamers to play online games irrespective of the configuration of the PC or mobile devices. In other words, a user would be able to play online games on any device without any drop in the overall game performance. This system will also eliminate the need for software updates, as games would come installed with the latest updates and ready to play.
- Overtake by Millennial Spectators
Gaming is on the cusp of becoming a spectator sport and millennials are the most active demographic leading to the growth of the industry. As per Nielsen market research report, nearly 71% of gamers watch gameplay consistently on YouTube and other similar video sharing platforms. The average age of this young demographic is coming out to around 35. The youth, especially those in the age bracket of 18-25, is more interested in viewing gamers battle it out in virtual sphere than in regular sports broadcasts. It is projected that by the end of 2021, the number of spectators is most likely to outnumber active gamers by 90%.
- Emergence of AR and VR
AR and VR hold immense promise in providing an immersive gaming experience. Since their inception, both AR and VR have made huge strides. For 2021, it is expected that the technology involved in both AR and VR will offer a more realistic and superior visual experience. Consequently, video game companies will be able to use this technology to enhance the overall gaming experience without requiring a video monitor. Statistics show that both the technologies have the potential to raise the revenues up to $20 billion in 2021.
Summing Up
The continuous innovation and advancements in technology have introduced endless possibilities. Convergence between virtual and offline sports will keep drawing to a close as e-gaming adopts these trends and features which previously ruled over the world of physical sports. Factors like sponsorships, betting and advertising revenue will further develop the industry in 2021.