What’s in store for the future of game development?

Game Design Courses will soar in popularity

Based on the trends of the past ten years, we should be excited about what’s coming next in the gaming industry. This decade has reminded us about what great ‘gaming’ can be.

We’ve seen mind-blowing hardware, amazing graphics, and vast open worlds – limited only by the number of hours developers have in the day. Yet gamers have also enjoyed exquisite game play, thoughtful storylines, and addictive puzzles – on top of the rejuvenation of table-top gaming!

In every corner of the gaming market, products are pushing boundaries and appealing to huge audiences.

This is great news for anyone interested in game design courses: tomorrow’s gaming industry will need the talents of many unique highly-trained individuals.

This post will take a look at some of the opportunities the gaming industry of the future may have for new developers.

Virtual Reality going from strength to strength

In the coming years, we can expect Virtual Reality to become even more embedded in our lives. With Meta’s Horizon Worlds, VR technology has the potential to become ubiquitous – not just in gaming.

Moreover, the latest work on hardware shows that we’ve only just begun to see the full capacity of VR: this includes [pricing, smart tracking, wireless headsets, and treadmills], all of which make the form even more accessible and immersive. Source : The Wired Shopper

There’s strong signs that the remarkable breakthroughs will continue. For example, scientists in America are finding ways to implement haptic feedback that affects the mouth – you won’t imagine the feel of your teeth shuddering as you ride on a motorcycle. Source : IGN

Nor are graphics losing out as other tech moves forwards. The release of Unreal Engine 5 has shown how graphics are going from strength to strength, producing results that are barely distinguishable from video footage.

These core developments are truly astonishing. It will take an equally innovative generation of coders to prove that new tech is worth having.

A quirky side to technology

However, there is another side to the future of gaming technology.

The new handheld console Play.Date includes a small rotatable crank – making an unusual demand on software developers.

Initial batches of games have already used the crank for control movement and the flow of time.

Although the crank could turn out to be a gimmick, it looks like developers will find ways to make use of it. Play.Date’s risk-taking venture might encourage other manufacturers to consider how they can make simple innovations to disrupt the market.

Whether or not Play.Date turns out to be a big hit, it makes us all reflect about the technology we want to see and use.

Streaming from the cloud is still unproven

It’s easy to imagine an effective model for cloud-based streaming. It would be especially useful for lower-intensity, short-duration games, or for gamers who aren’t so committed to individual games. In those circumstances, Netflix-style choice might be just right.

But faced with its very real limitations, the gaming community have been cynical with the future of streaming. It will only be viable for data-heavy games when there is no lag time, no bugs, and no drop in image quality – conditions that seem a long way from being met.

So, if cloud-based game streaming is going to become a successful model for gaming, it will need to prove itself soon. Keep your eyes peeled for developments!

Browser gaming: an example of streaming success

Nonetheless, browser-based gaming’s strong track record proves how some forms of cloud accessibility can work well.

Nearly a decade after their launch, games like Cookie Cutter and Candy Box continue to be extremely popular – while the community around Torn is still going strong in its nineteenth year.

Browser games may never be at the cutting-edge of graphics or game-play. Yet games like Zombs.io, Adobo’s big adventure, and Haxbal, all show how single- and multi-player browser games can use browsers to find new audiences – and set great examples to be followed by a new generation.

Let’s not forget Wordle, which shows the vast market for accessible puzzle-style games. Such a simple concept is difficult to produce from thin air: but creative developers can use this example as inspiration in their creative and original projects in years to come.

Mobile Gaming: exciting stories in every pocket

When we think about mobile gaming, we may think that the best times are past. There is no real replacement for classics like Angry Birds or Candy Crush. And unfortunately, app stores are awash with cheap replicas that are designed to drive ads.

On the upside, this makes a great opportunity to create elegant, enticing, sociable applications that get to the heart of what ‘gaming’ is about.

Browser and mobile gaming reminds us that compelling games do not need to be produced by big studios. Committed solo developers can use these forms to prove that they are innovative, expressive, and engaging – and in the process, perhaps end up attracting a big audience.

Being sociable with multiplayer games

Browser and mobile platforms use the social aspect of gaming very effectively. Whether you are joining a team of random people to play soccer, or sharing your Wordle result on twitter – casual gamers love to play alongside others.

In this sense, the ‘lesser’ forms may even have an advantage over console and PC gaming multiplayer features. There, multiplayer gameplay can be surprisingly inaccessible, requiring subscriptions, with little choice about who you play with.

In the next few years we can hope to see an improvement in the shareability and sociability of games. If you want to play Elden Ring with your buddies – you shouldn’t need long blog posts explaining how to do it! We need the developers to take the social life of gaming much more seriously.

What game design courses can offer

The mainstream gaming industry continues to develop on familiar lines. Every year, we get more cutting-edge hardware and cutting-edge software, all requiring input from the most advanced computer scientists in the world.

However, game programming courses that only instruct in code may not be the best way to invest in your future in the industry. When you think about the sheer range of viable entries into the gaming market, it’s clear that hard coding skills are not the only talent employers will need.

A creative flair, an interest in story-telling, and an appreciation for compelling gameplay – developers with these qualities are just as likely to excel in the gaming industry of tomorrow.

MAGES is one place where you can count on game design courses ranging from Diploma Programs (Diploma in Game Design & Technology) to Professional Short Courses that provide you the full package of skills that a new developer needs.

The future of gaming – an exciting time for everyone

It’s clear that gaming over the next ten years will continue to appeal to many kinds of people.

The industry will need developers of all kinds – whether you want to create the next monochrome game for Play.Date, mind-blowing cityscapes in Unreal Engine, or a new idle game to run in the background of your work computer.