Jamieson Lee Hill, August 4th, 2023

The gaming industry is quickly growing and evolving as we have seen in previous articles. In this blog post, we explore 5 of the biggest trends in gaming in 2023 and how colocation data centres are the ideal solution for gaming companies.

Virtual Reality (VR) Gaming

VR has been on the scene for years now. Amazingly, the first interactive Virtual Reality platform was in 1975 and was called VIDEOPLACE. In the 1990s both SEGA and Nintendo released VR Headsets but neither were commercially successful. Jumping forward to the 21st century, in 2023 there are a number of VR headsets for gaming on the market including Meta’s Oculus, Sony Playstation and PC. 

VR gaming has far more immersive gameplay than in the past; it seems to be finally gaining popularity and could transform the future of gaming. These are exciting times for the gaming sector. With VR you can step into very realistic digital environments and explore whole new worlds. I remember first playing Sony Playstation’s Resident Evil on VR a number of years ago and screaming when the monster stabbed me in the leg. The level of realism is mindblowing. Gameplay is being taken to a new level.

The global revenue size of VR is small in comparison to mobile, PC and console gaming, but it is growing significantly,

“Global revenue within the VR gaming industry is forecast to grow to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, up from 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.”

Source: Statista.com, 2023

Colocation Data Centres and Virtual Reality

Colocation has played a key role in the world of VR gaming because it provides minimal latency and optimal reliability. This is due to colocation data centres’ centralised, high performance technology and hardware. Basically, low latency and high performance is essential for virtual reality gaming because even small delays in VR can cause motion sickness in the gamer and negatively impact the gaming experience. 

In addition, colocation data centres also supply enhanced security for gaming companies and robust power supplies which keep the game servers running 24/7. Having a reliable and consistent service is crucial for VR gaming!

Colocation also allows gaming studios the scalability to expand their size as demand grows. IP House in London offers a ‘Pay-as-you-grow’ service which is both affordable and cost effective. The rapid speed at which scaling is possible within a colocation data centre is due to the cutting edge technology which allows fast growth as audiences increase. 

Top Virtual Reality Games in 2023

Check out some of the top games in 2023. This video outlines ten VR games to look out for this year. If you haven’t tried VR gaming, why not give it a go!

2. Mobile Gaming

Mobile gaming has grown phenomenally in recent years with games being developed for smartphones and tablets. The forecast for global mobile gaming revenue is expected to reach nearly $300 billion this year,

“Revenue in the Mobile Games market is projected to reach US$286.50bn in 2023.”

Source: Statista.com 2023

The technology and sophistication of mobile gaming is now remarkable and the diversity of mobile gaming too. Overall, mobile gaming encompasses every type of genre from action, sport, adventure, puzzle, strategy, FPS, racing and many more. Indeed, the mobile gaming sector is an integral part of the industry with the technology of smartphones and tablets rapidly evolving and more players gaming in the cloud. 

3. Augmented Reality

“Augmented reality gaming (AR gaming) is the real-time integration of virtual game elements with the physical environment of the player.”

Source: Tech Target.com, 2023

Augmented reality (AR) is like a halfway house between virtual reality and the real World. AR brings digital elements into the gamer’s real world view and places virtual objects, characters, monsters and treasures in your physical surroundings. The conduit for this technology is usually AR glasses or smart phone mobile cameras. They allow the gamer to see an augmented reality where the real world and virtual worlds exist in the same space. 

Pokemon Go was a very popular AR game released on July 6th, 2016 that took the AR gaming genre to mass market. However, the first ever AR game was called AR Quake and was launched in 2000; players had to wear a backpack with a computer and gyroscopes in it. Clearly, AR and VR are both revolutionising the gaming world; AR is predicted to continue increasing its global revenue over the next decade,

“The global augmented reality market is projected to grow from $62.75 billion in 2023 to $1,109.71 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 50.7% during the forecast period.”

Source: Fortune Business Insights.com, 2023

4. A.I. Within Games 

In recent times, the impact of A.I. has been transforming the gaming industry. Gaming studios can now use A.I. tools to craft art and animations, write content and even coding. One of the most exciting A.I. developments for the industry is the ability of A.I. algorithms to enable NPCs in games to chat freely with players and adapt with more realistic reactions, decisions, speech and behaviour than in the past. This will make gaming much more immersive and interesting because NPCs do not merely repeat the same actions over and over. 

A.I. games offer a new horizon where games evolve into something new and more unpredictable as characters within the game make their own decisions. The future for A.I. in gaming is very exciting. We saw in our recent blog article that A.I. already plays a key role in colocation data centres in terms of monitoring efficiency and improving sustainability. No doubt the role of A.I. in colocation data centres supporting gaming studios will continue to increase in the future. 

5. Blockchain Gaming and The Metaverse

Blockchain is another major trend shaping the future of gaming with the integration of blockchain technology and decentralized protocols. This new breed of games known as Web 3 enable players to have true ownership of in-game assets and the ability to trade or sell them outside of the game environment.

With blockchain, gamers can have verifiable scarcity and uniqueness of NFTs as well as trading with tokens within these new token gaming economies. This trend, known as Play-to-Earn (P2E), has gained traction and is expected to continue growing in popularity in 2023 and beyond. Despite resistance from traditional Web 2 gamers, blockchain crypto tokens and NFTs actually give players more control over their assets because they can trade in NFTs and tokens and exchange them for real money on crypto exchanges. 

The Metaverse

The Metaverse is a virtual world that connects different games and platforms. It offers a unified space where players can interact, socialize, and engage in various activities across different virtual environments. 

With the integration of blockchain technology and advanced networking capabilities, the Metaverse presents exciting opportunities for collaborative gameplay, immersive experiences, and new forms of social interaction. In 2023, further developments and initiatives are happening towards building a more interconnected and immersive gaming Metaverse.

Web3 startups are continuing to join the market and in the first quarter of 2023 investment in startups for blockchain was significantly high,

“In the first quarter of 2023, 108 web3 startups raised a total of $814,287,823 in investments.”

Source: Metaverse Post.io, 2023

IP House And The A.I. and Blockchain Sector 

IP House is currently collaborating with some very exciting leading-edge organisations in the AI & Blockchain space, we are currently developing some innovative solutions which will support a line of new products and services, new announcements coming soon!

 

Reflections

The gaming sector is expanding at a breathtaking pace and we have already seen in previous articles how important cloud gaming is becoming. Colocation data centres like IP House in London are a crucial part of the evolution of gaming with colocation features providing low latency, reliability of servers and power supplies and the ability to scale at a rapid rate when necessary to cater for growth in the number of players. The cutting edge technology of IP House data centre is perfectly matched to the demands  of the  gaming industry. Staying ahead of the game and upgrading our hardware and software on a regular basis, we are able to provide bespoke solutions for gaming companies.  We look forward to onboarding increasing numbers of gaming studios and brands in the future.

If you are a gaming company and would like to know more about what IP House Colocation Centre can offer, please fill out the contact form below. 

Sources:

The Most Anticipated Gaming Technology Trends of 2023:

https://www.datacenters.com/news/the-most-anticipated-gaming-technology-trends-of-2023

Two Technology Trends Shaping The Future Of Gaming: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/07/11/two-technology-trends-shaping-the-future-of-gaming/

Top 10 Gaming Technology Trends to Watch Out in 2023: https://www.auxanoglobalservices.com/top-gaming-technology-trends/

Advances in gaming Technology in 2023: https://www.tekrevol.com/blogs/top-advances-in-gaming-technology/

The Most Anticipated Gaming Trends in 2023: https://www.datacenters.com/news/the-most-anticipated-gaming-technology-trends-of-2023

Game Market Trends In 2023: https://newzoo.com/resources/blog/newzoos-game-market-trends-to-watch-in-2023-part-1