The events of 2024 have made huge adjustments to the development of various industries. It’s no secret that the gaming industry has received a powerful boost. Forced to stay at home, people increasingly turned to virtual reality to make up for the lack of entertainment. In connection with this, gaming companies began to work even more intensively, offering people many new products. It worked: video game development has risen to unprecedented heights and continues to develop actively in 2024.
Saturated with a large assortment of new games, people are waiting for innovations and the use of modern technology in games. Our task for today is to tell you which game development trends of 2024 are the most relevant.
Mobile games have always been successful. But their rapid rise in popularity began with the advent of large, high-quality screens. The number of users today is unprecedented for a number of reasons. The first reason is associated with the constantly evolving gaming technologies: today, games for smartphones in terms of graphics and variety of functions are very close to games on personal computers or game consoles. Second, there are fewer opportunities for people around the world to communicate and be entertained today.
The mobile games industry is developing more and more every year. It is also influenced by the global innovations of the mobile world, in particular, the spread of the 5G Internet, and the changes introduced by such large companies as Apple. In the blogs of Western platforms there are shown the main trends.
1. Cloud Gaming
The ability to play games without installing them on your computer and worrying about system requirements has become a real revolution. Cloud gaming quickly proved to be effective. Due to the fact that the game requires only the Internet, players get rid of the need to buy expensive hardware and get access to the most modern and advanced innovations in the gaming industry.
The development of this technology is already gradually leading to the fact that developers do not need to think about technical limitations. They can create large-scale and complex games that will be accessible to everyone, not just the happy owners of powerful devices.
The main problem that cloud services can face is a huge influx of players wanting to play the recently released hit. This can lead to the formation of a small queue due to the inability to process such a number of requests at the same time. But most likely this will also be fixed by increasing the computing power.
2. Mobile Games are trendy
It would be strange not to say a word about mobile game trends. In fact, mobile games are a trend themselves. Their rapid development has already led to an oversaturation of the market with entertainment products of various genres for which there is a demand.
Many Asian and Southeastern countries, where the smartphone is the number one device for people, have been the main reason for the increase in the pace of mobile gaming. This trend will continue to grow in the coming years. So the entrance to the mobile market remains, albeit an adventurous, but a rather promising solution.
3. Playable advertising
A custom advertising experience went a long way. The budget spent on in-app ads and on ads for the apps themselves is increasing every year. Playable ads allow users to “play” before downloading a game application. And its benefits are obvious. It is expected that in 2024 it will only continue to develop.
4. Development of monetization through advertising in games with IAP
Many IAP game developers monetize through in-app purchases with real money. They begin to adapt to in-app ads in their apps. In a fiercely competitive environment, ad quality grows, engaging and user-friendly formats such as Offerwalls or Rewarded and others you can see here are used. And for many players the Rewarded format is preferable to direct in-app costs.
And there is an explanation for the fact that monetization will begin to grow precisely due to advertising. The cost of acquiring a user who will make purchases under the IAP is growing every year. In 2024, according to ironSource, it grew by 24%. For many marketers, it will be more profitable to monetize with ads rather than IAPs.
Moreover, due to the constraints associated with the pandemic, live communication was lacking in 2024 for many. It has moved to the Internet. And this has impacted the mobile gaming industry as well. It’s clear that games offering multiplayer participation will begin to grow to a greater extent in 2024. Reliable sources clarify that there will also be more games that integrate chats, push notifications with messages about friends joining games, activity feeds of other players.
Both platforms cite the growing popularity of the Bunch app, which allows you to gather friends for video chat and start a mobile game together. It attracted $ 20 million in investment. There may be more such innovations in 2024.
5. AR and VR
The virtual experience became vital for people at the moment when they were trapped in four walls. In addition to the possibility of its use for educational and training purposes, it can and should be implemented in the gaming sphere. This is what game developers did.
AR and VR are one of the most enduring video game industry trends. Immersiveness is what is valued most in games. Therefore, VR got even more widespread. It allows people to actually be transported into the game world and look at it with their eyes from the inside. The demand for VR leads to a gradual increase in the number of glasses, helmets and headsets, expanding functionality and improving the experience.
Final Thoughts
Those who follow the gaming trends stay afloat. Those who remain conservative and reluctant to change are likely to lose. Therefore, if you are going to create a game, rely on gaming companies that feel the spirit of the time and adapt to it.