Written by Joe McLoughlin
For this blog, I tie together an array of research I have carried out on current game design trends in 2023 and where this suggests it may be heading in the near future.
The Expansion of Augmented Reality
The Future is Virtual Reality
The Rise of Mobile Gaming
Inclusivity
Girls Gaming
"Feel Engineering"
Indie Game Saturation
Change of Style
Blockchain and Crypto Games
Metaverse!
Open World
Next Gen Power
Hype
Video Games in Film and TV
Gaming Coaches
1. The Expansion of Augmented Reality
"Today, many companies in the gaming industry are investing in augmented reality ideas to bring gaming to everyone’s homes and lives."
"Despite the steep dropoff, Pokemon Go showed us how to complete strangers, even those not into Pokemon or gaming, could come together over an augmented reality game. It wasn’t uncommon at its height to see packs of teens roaming the streets, populating a Pokestop, and dropping lure modules like it was nobody’s business.
Was it simply the popularity of Pokemon as a franchise that took Niantic to the top (above even twitter), or was it the AR element? Likely it was a combination of the two, but it’s worth watching what happens with AR as we move forward."
2. The Future is Virtual Reality
"Virtual reality gaming has been around for a while, but it made a big comeback a couple of years ago. It looks like it’s here to stay since many companies outside the gaming industry are betting on this technology as well."
"Several technology brands have VR headsets in their future catalog of products already, from Sony’s PS VR 2 to Apple’s VR headset, and even Meta’s Cambria. There are even some already on the market, like the Oculus Rift. Virtual reality gaming is and will be a reality for gamers all around the world."
"This year saw virtual reality return with a vengeance. Oculus Rift and the game’s Steam has been developing look particularly promising. PS4’s own version of the headset might prove even more accessible.
Although they haven’t released a price for their tech, millions of people have a PS4. Then there’s Gear, which lets you play games like Minecraft in virtual reality. It will be very interesting to see how social elements are tied in. Seeing the avatars of your friends from around the world, all in the same room through VR? Now that’s a pretty neat prospect."
3. The Rise of Mobile Gaming
"Due to its accessibility, mobile gaming is expected to be the fastest-growing segment this year. AR is very popular in mobile gaming due to its immersive experience in games such as PokémonGo.
With the rise of smartphone capabilities, gamers will, of course, expect PC quality on their mobile games. Crossplay and spin-offs games will be very popular for mobile gaming." Mobile took more than 50% of gaming revenue for first time in 2018 and its only grown in the last 5 years.
"Trends also show that the top mobile games have remained the top mobile games; new games haven’t been able to unseat the incumbents.
It’s easier than ever to design games for many different platforms, but it’s getting harder to reach interested gamers."
4. Inclusivity
"AAA games have presented main characters with different ethnicities, shapes, and sexual orientations in the last years. From Overwatch’s rich character rooster to The Last of Us Part 2 protagonist and antagonist.
We can expect trending games to have more of these characters normalizing differences and helping to fight racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and hatred in general."
"Video games are a great way to reach audiences of all kinds, especially young people.
Featuring diversity and inclusivity in games exposes kids (and everyone) to the beauty of being different. Diversity could become more prevalent in video games as sectors of all entertainment industries crawl towards equality."
5. Girls Gaming
"It’s estimated that over 45% of gamers are, in fact, women.
This is making the narrative of games change as well! It was very common to have a male heroic character, but fortunately, we are looking at more and more female protagonists in games." Image according to Statista.
6. "Feel Engineering"
"“Feeling First” is a development approach that focuses on feelings as a goal when producing a video game. This approach creates a totally new way for the video game industry to work, as emotions dictate the gameplay, visuals, and story.
Funomena is a company totally focused on “feel engineering,” creating games with gamers’ emotions in mind."
"“Feeling First” design starts with the emotions the developers want players to feel. From there, they design the mechanics and the gameplay, and the story. It’s a bit of a flip on the traditional approach to game creation. Funomena is the pioneer of this “Feel Engineering.” It’s about creating unique, moving emotional responses in players."
7. Indie Game Saturation
"Thanks to the growing number of people getting into game development, the gaming industry has made it easier for all of them to sell their creations and has helped them reach their market by removing barriers. However, while the indie gaming industry is growing, it is also spreading thin. There’s too much being offered, leading to all the platforms being inundated with new products every day."
"All kinds of developer platforms, from Twine to Amazon’s AAA-caliber Lumberyard, are available for aspiring designers to get their hands on. This software access, as well as unprecedentedly low barriers to entry, has meant a great indie game flood of the market.
It means more indie games making it in front of people, but it also means it’s harder to get your indie game in front of people. They’re inundated with games!"
8. Change of Style
Cute-ification of games. "With the constant widening of the video game audience, developers are beginning to experiment with new aesthetics, colour palettes and character types, attracting big communities in the process. The gigantic success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons showed that kawaii (the Japanese culture of cuteness) isn't a niche anymore – it's the main event. "
Back to old style games. "we're going to see a lot more designers looking at the early 1990s era, with its low resolution 3D visuals and darker, more adult themes. Retro first-person shooters are so hot right now: we've already seen Amid Evil, Dusk, and Cruelty Squad, and on the way are the HR Giger-inspired Hellscreen and fantasy-set hack-n-slasher Graven."
9. Blockchain and Crypto Games
"Desperate for new revenue streams to replace much-maligned loot boxes, EA, Ubisoft and Square Enix have all announced their intentions to explore the possibilities of crypto mechanics."
10. Metaverse!
"Now that Facebook has decided that the metaverse is the future, we can expect to be swamped with games offering vast massively multiplayer worlds with a heavy focus on social interaction and shared events."
11. Open World
Open world games becoming more exploratory. "Gone were all of those screen-hogging markers, item checklists, and cascading objectives, in favour of pure exploration and discovery."
12. Next Gen Power
Making full use of next gen console power. "Push physics, framerates and 4K visuals into new territory – but across the board we'll see developers using the benefits of their greater experience to explore trendy effects such as ray-tracing and AI-enhanced animation in interesting new ways."
13. Hype
"Are shorter hype cycles in the future of games? We saw the disastrous effects that over-hype had on No Man’s Sky. What eager gamers theorized about the game took many expectations very far away from what the developers actually promised. At their small team size, generating hype for a really cool concept helps with funding and sales.
Bethesda, on the other hand, announces Fallout 4 at E3 and releases it months later in November of the same year. Is tempering expectations with shorter hype cycles the way of the future for bigger developers and publishers?"
14. Video Games in Film and TV
"Gaming characters are making crossover appearances as a strategy to promote their franchises. Jix from League of Legends appeared in Fortnite to promote Arcane, and Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield also appeared in Fortnite to promote the Resident Evil movie last year. Alloy appeared in Genshin Impact, Fortnite, and Fall Guys to promote the new Horizon game. Nathan Drake was also in Fortnite for the Uncharted movie campaign, as Fortnite crossovers never seem to stop.
Fans love to see their favorite characters everywhere, and we can expect to see more of these crossovers and movie adaptations in gaming and in years to come."
15. Gaming Coaches
"Some gamers play to have fun, while others want to join a more competitive level. To achieve better scores, you must look over your stats to improve your gaming skills.
This has led to more and more companies offering training and analytics to help players build up their skills. Leetify, for example, is a popular website that focuses on improving players’ skills in a specific version of Counterstrike."
Summary
"Video games are not only a form of entertainment anymore but are also an expression of creativity as more gamers get into developing their own creations. The future of gaming is now shaped by fans who want to be represented in the games and who want to feel and experience reality in new ways."