Gaming is one of the most interesting sectors to look at in terms of business. The industry is evolving at the speed of light thanks to a unique intersection of technology, tastes, and the rise of spectator gaming. In other words, there’s a lot to keep up with.
That’s a high charge when you consider how long it takes to produce new forms of technology, from both a software and hardware basis. New projects and ideas constantly loom on the horizon, but it’s unclear what will take off next. Trends might rise suddenly and then disappear.
Live features, it seems, aren’t one of these passing trends. In fact, you could argue that the modern gaming scene was built on the development of live features. It’s therefore not surprising that they have become a more engrained part of the experience. In other words, players are increasingly expecting live features from the gaming world.
Here are some of the most important, popular, and impactful live experiences within the gaming world.
Game Livestreaming
Let’s start off with the trend that kickstarted the eSports industry: game livestreaming. This took off back in 2014 when Amazon bought out the Twitch platform. Twitch had proved popular with gamers who wanted to share their gaming exploits via livestream with their community. But Amazon offered the funding to leverage this trend into a fully blown gaming phenomenon.
In the late 2010s, Twitch (along with new streaming projects from YouTube and Microsoft) pushed eSports onto the map globally. Since then, the platform has evolved past the boundaries of gaming. Now, there are thousands of streams that cover a range of more casual topics, from wildlife live streams to guitar lessons.
Live Casinos
Around the same time that game livestreaming was hitting new heights, online casinos adopted a unique form of live technology: live casino games. Live casino games are offered alongside all the other favorites, allowing players to interact directly with a real-life dealer using a video chat.
Live dealer games, as they’re sometimes called, allow players to fully immerse themselves in a virtual casino floor. It adds an element of realism and social interaction that’s otherwise unheard of within the world of casino games.
Cloud Gaming
You may have seen the term cloud gaming floating around and wondered what it meant. Cloud gaming, also known as game streaming, is a way of streaming video games to a device live. Rather than download the game or insert a physical game into a console, cloud gaming works like a video streaming platform.
In fact, both Netflix and Amazon offer some of the more extensive cloud gaming offers on the market. These are ideal for gamers who want to sample a large range of games without purchasing each one individually. Just like a video streaming platform, games might only be on offer for a limited time, which can generate excitement around temporary releases.
However, it’s very technically demanding to stream games, especially more expansive and complex games that include open-world maps. Most platforms will need to refine their operations before they can expand their reach—but many analysts believe cloud gaming will become more mainstream in the next few years.
Live Service Games
Live service games are titles that continually release new forms of content, usually through season passes or seasonal updates. World favorites like Fortnite are classic examples, as these regularly release extra content for players. Though there’s no ‘live’ element to this in terms of video links, it’s an important part of the gaming ecosystem. It helps generate money for the developers, too, as most live service games are free to download and play.
It seems that players crave a sense of immediacy within their games. They want the latest updates, the latest offers, and the latest maps. These serve as ways for the developers to keep hold of a player’s attention. It’s an important element because many live service games emphasize their social and multiplayer elements.
