Free To Play & Mobile Games
Free to play games remain popular even in this year. Majority of them are MMORPGs (Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games), Facebook games and apps on smartphones. They are attractive for people, because they can be played for free, people can still enjoy the game, without purchasing the extra bonuses. Even so, this seems to many people like a better transaction; play-test the game for free and just buy addictions once they like it.
Another thing is that these games (apart from MMOs) have easy tasks to complete and nice graphics, so casual gamers love to play them. Games are currently the most popular apps for smartphones.
That game, despite its simplicity and mind-numbing addictive powers, was a pre-cursor to today’s free game apps available on smartphones from the moment of purchase." https://xlocinc.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/new-trends-in-the-gaming-industry-for-2015/
In case of MMOs the player have choice of wide character customisation (or choosing from a full list of them) and have sort of second life. Majority of them is battle-oriented, but people are free to do other things, like exploration or quest solving.
Esports
Esports (Electronic Sports), are classified as sport tournaments. Their popularity grows constantly, countries do have representative teams of best players, who compete with te others. Winning pools do reach millions. People go and watch them live or on streaming websites such as Twitch, treating them in the same way as physical sports (e.g. Football).
"Originally popular in Asia, the main enabler for the growth of Esports was Twitch, which was acquired by Amazon for just under $1B. Professional gamers like Matt Haag are earning a comfortable living through competitive careers. Four game franchises have now had Esports events with a prize pool of more than $1M: League of Legends, DoTA2, Call of Duty and SMITE." http://www.internap.com/2014/12/01/top-five-online-gaming-industry-trends-2015/Esports (Electronic Sports), are classified as sport tournaments. Their popularity grows constantly, countries do have representative teams of best players, who compete with te others. Winning pools do reach millions. People go and watch them live or on streaming websites such as Twitch, treating them in the same way as physical sports (e.g. Football).
Esports include MMO genres such as First Person Shooters, RPGs (Role-Playing Games) and MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena).
"In the last decade the popularity of video games as a spectator sport has grown measurably; alongside Starcraft, World Of Warcraft, CounterStrike, Call Of Duty, Halo, DoTa and League Of Legends have become permanent fixtures on the esports circuit and both the prize money at these events and the size of the audiences watching them – both at events and online – have swelled." http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/gaming-trends-in-2015-what-s-happening-in-gaming-tech-this-year
Indie Games
Indie Games got their popularity, because they are independent from big companies. These games are with enjoyable graphics and interesting stories, no longer small, but start to be more and more complex. They are not only released on PCs, but now they are distributed on consoles and mobile phones.
Indie Games got their popularity, because they are independent from big companies. These games are with enjoyable graphics and interesting stories, no longer small, but start to be more and more complex. They are not only released on PCs, but now they are distributed on consoles and mobile phones.
The indie market continues to grow.
This what triggers it is the accessibility to game making engines, millions of pounds aren't spent on making the games and people don't need to stink safely of what wide audience likes the best, because there won't be an extreme money loss leading to bankruptcy.
"During its recent resurgence the indie was easy to identify; titles like Thomas Was Alone, DayZ and Gunpoint shouldered their way onto the mainstream’s radar through word of mouth and the odd glowing review. Now the indie seem to be an integral part of the bigger publishers’ release strategy." http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/gaming-trends-in-2015-what-s-happening-in-gaming-tech-this-year
Virtual Reality
There are two major Virtual Reality headsets: Oculus Rift (own by Facebook) and Project Morpheus (made by Sony). They include special lenses and headphones giving a totally new experience when it comes to gaming. This technology is being developed more and more, giving the large field of experimentation.
"Although the general public hasn’t yet embraced this technology, virtual simulators are expected and anticipated by gamers worldwide. Facebook’s recent acquisition of Oculus makes it poised to reach a huge social audience that will most likely embrace the next big thing." https://xlocinc.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/new-trends-in-the-gaming-industry-for-2015/