Game Megatrends (largely from Pascal Luban in Gamasutra)

The necessity of increasing the commercial life span of games. Development costs are rising – > $100 million More multi-player Give players the tools to create maps and mods Downloadable content – microtransactions Merchandising – action figures, manga, comics, tournaments, novels, movies, school supplies… Online distribution – buy-and-download, monthly subscription, try-and-buy, free-to-play.

The emergence of fast gaming, and games relying on micropayments. Easy to start; no big investment. Design implications: ease of setup, simple game mechanics, many add-ons and upgrades.

Increasingly believable universes. Increasingly detailed models. Facial animation. Outdoor environments. Real-time, interactive atmospheric effects. Increased interaction with the environment (including NPC animations). Completely interactive environments.

The search for immediate accessibility. Making games easier to grasp (no tutorials, no documentation). Progressive introduction of features. Simpler user interfaces. Increasing number of casual players. New types of players, new habits of playing. Design implication: avoid failure early in the game

Gaming as a teaching tool. A deep tutorial mechanism, itself interactive, explaining each game feature and academic topic. Built-in exams, integrated into the game environment and consistent with it. Exchange and communication between player/students and the teacher. Integration into classrooms and lesson plans; and into distance learning schemes.

Increased multi-player gaming. Greater demands on quality control – levels are likely to be played many times. Further development of cooperative games. Gaming on mobile platforms. Challenges of bad behavior: cheating, sore losers, lack of team spirit, rude or racist behavior, unequal skill levels.

And more… Public health concerns Gamification User-generated contents More emotion in games Alternate input devices – body, voice VR: Oculus Rift, wearable gaming (PrioVR) Bigger indie hits (eg. New consoles (PS4, Xbox One) Games on multiple devices

USA Today – Five video game trends from E Game worlds are getting much bigger – Dragon Age: Inquisition, Destiny, Metal Gear Solid V 2.Virtual reality’s second act – Oculus, Sony’s Project Morpheus, EVE Valkyrie, Alien: Isolation 3.The rise of the toy/game hybrid – Nintendo’s Amiibo line (Mario, Pikachu), Activision’s Skylanders, Disney Infinity 4.Better with friends – more coop games

And more… 1.Wearable technology. 2.Virtual reality. 3.Gamification. 4.Citywide team sports. 5.Software enhanced table top games. 6.Natural language processing. 7.Expensive games for rich people.