How Is Game Development Changing?

Video games have changed an incredible amount since they were first introduced. They have gone from colourless blocks to the current photo-realistic images that we see today. However, even with this incredible level of development that’s taken place, video games still have new areas that they can reach into. We’ve taken a look at how video game development can still change, and how it has impacted on the games that we are likely to see in the future.

Technological drivers

It might come as a shock to some people, but online casinos are actually one of the biggest drivers of tech advancement in the world of video games. With new online casinos cropping up every month, operators have to provide the best experience to players in order for them to be retained. There are so many new online casinos coming along all the time that if a site isn’t at the top of its game, it will lose players almost instantly.

A great example of this is the advent of live streaming games to online casinos. These are games that use an actual real-life person at the other end of a camera as the host for a game. While it’s nothing new in video games to use real-life footage (this has been around in games since the 1990s), it is a first to use it in real time.

It’s not just live video streaming that has been creeping into video games either. Casinos were the first to use the blockchain as a method to create games. Provably fair games are created using blockchain technology to allow for real-time checking on the fairness of games. While this exact mechanic is unlikely to be used in standard video games, the blockchain actually offers a lot of potential for video game development.

Sandbox creations

Sandbox games are some of the most popular in the world. GTA, Burnout and many others have drawn in players many times over the years. However, the blockchain actually offers the opportunity for developers to create actual, fully formed sandbox worlds.

The way that this works is almost like how different social media platforms can integrate with each other. Because each social media site is created using a similar coding base, it has the opportunity to be completely linked across each platform. This allows users to make posts that will be posted across each platform at the same time.

Creating games on the blockchain offers a similar opportunity. Developers will have the opportunity to create different games that can then all be linked to each other through the blockchain. It would allow for a full sandbox world to be created as the games can all link to each other. An example of this would be a world that acts as a hub, and then players move through the hub into different games before then moving back to the hub.

It would allow the possibility to create an actual life sim for gamers. While the technology and cloud computing power isn’t quite there yet to carry this out, by integrating the blockchain, this is a possibility in the future.

Cross-compatibility

This is an area of gaming that’s often ignored by developers. Most of them create games and solely focus on them being on a single platform. While there will be versions of the game for each platform, players will only be able to play against other gamers on that platform. Online multiplayer games are slightly limited because of this. However, lots of players want to be able to play with gamers on other systems. If you have an Xbox but your best friend has a PS5, then you would want to play games with them online.

It does mean that in the future, it’s likely that developers will work to create games that can be played across multiple systems. There are some games out there that this can be done on, but in general, it’s not the norm with gaming.

While it’s unlikely that developers will start to use the blockchain to solve this issue, it is still an issue that requires a solution. What most developers will likely do is find a way for the games to overcome any hardware issues when connecting to servers. If they host their own servers, it’s even possible that they could carry out the required checks and tests on their own hardware in real time. While it’s likely that this would increase the amount of latency experienced in the game, it’s also possible that cloud computing power would be able to negate this problem.

Virtual reality

This is something that has been mooted as a future gaming explosion for a number of years now. Virtual reality (VR) has been used in a lot of different ways, but it has never really managed to catch on for a variety of reasons. The first time it appeared in a big way was in the 1990s. It appeared on gaming TV shows and in magazines as the future of gaming. However, the hardware required for VR was just too expensive and ungainly for it to catch on – home consoles were riding a wave of popularity, and for games to be successful at this point, they had to be available in the home.

However, things have changed a bit in the years since then. VR technology is not just more streamlined, but it’s also a lot more affordable. It means that developers could see VR as something that could catch on in a big way in the future. If the technology keeps improving and it becomes even more affordable, then it’s possible that VR gaming could turn into the most immersive way to play.

Imagine the incredible graphics of the Far Cry games, but experienced through a VR helmet with your own motion controlling the game. If this technology really manages to break into the mainstream, then it would be foolhardy for developers to ignore it. The potential for gaming going forward is incredible!