New innovations are introduced to the online gaming space so frequently that it’s impossible to keep up with all of them. From Belgium banning loot boxes last year to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 not including a single-player mode, a lot has changed in the gaming scene coming into 2019. Here are some of the new trends and developments that gamers never really enjoyed until recently.
Multiplayer-Only Games
Multiplayer gamers are proving to be the future of online gaming with every day that passes by. Last year, Call of Duty surprised many when it announced Black Ops 4 would be without a single player mode. One of their reasons was to “push the best ideas forward.”
While that doesn’t exactly mean single players are a bad idea, it gives a hint of what to expect in 2019 and beyond. Your favorite online games will invest more on features that promote social playing. With Black Ops’ huge commercial success, expect FPS to delve deeper into multiplayers with all their games.
If you love single-player games, don’t worry about them becoming a thing of the past. At least not in the near future. Irrespective of what may be said on mainstream media, people have been spelling doom about single-players since 2000. Nearly 20 years later, many of the world’s best games have single player modes.
Canned Chats
Ever since backlash forced Xbox to introduce rules to their chat rooms, developers have been looking for ways to improve the way gamers chat. Live communications between gamers are still a growing phenomenon but custom chats are also cropping up.
With canned replies, you pick a message or phrase from a list of preprogrammed words and use it to talk to your opponent. You’ve probably interacted with these kinds of replies on Facebook and chat-boxes on different websites.
You want to compliment your opponent, send them a “Good Game!” reply? So, you need help to overcome rivals? Click “I need help!” Not everyone is excited about canned replies. You can’t express yourself fully and you are limited to the messages preprogrammed by developers.
With gamers having mixed feelings about canned texts, it will be hard to get rid of live chats altogether. Millions of gamers would rather talk to fellow gamers than send them a canned reply. As such, the most possible outcome will be for developers to combine canned replies with live communications.
More Console Games on mobile
Ownership of mobile devices is at an all-time high. Families with only one TV screen have about 5 mobile devices. Technology is to thank for the fast growth being witnessed in the mobile scene. With improved graphics and Operating Systems, people are loving mobile games.
PUBG, FIFA, Call of Duty and Crazy Taxi Classic are all available on mobile devices. Some, like Pro Evolution Soccer, have been on mobile platforms for more than five years. And unless anything changes, you can expect them to continue dominating play stores.
This year, Stardew Valley, Bad North, and Hi1Z1 are expected to headline the list of big games coming to mobile in 2019. In the past, developers shied away from mobile platforms for having less-advanced technologies. That has since changed.
Some modern mobile devices support up to 8GB of RAM and more than 100GB of hard drive space. The graphics are cutting-edge and the OS on both Android and iOS have proved to handle advanced games efficiently.
VR in Online Casinos
VR has been around for almost ten years. But penetrating into the consumer markets hasn’t been easy. After failing to impress TV users and being called antisocial by a section of gamers, developers haven’t given up the technology yet.
The online casino industry is expected to be where virtual reality finally succeeds. Except for live-dealer games, most gambling games online are played on a single-player mode. As such, the problem of VR immersing you into a different world alone isn’t an issue.
When it comes to market volumes, the online gambling sector is worth nearly $40 billion. The revenues are expected to grow this year as players hunt bonuses for new casinos and explore more games. Of course, there are challenges that need to be addressed before casino players can fully embrace virtual reality.
The biggest among them is whether VR will force players to upgrade their devices. Not everyone is willing to buy an expensive computer to experience a handful of games. The availability of good VR games and good VR devices will also determine how successful the innovation will succeed in the industry.
Games without Loot Boxes
The US government is investigating loot boxes to decide whether they should be classified as gambling. If you were keen in 2018, news about the in-game purchases was a hot topic in the gaming world.
The Belgium government warned several developers before banning the sale of loot boxes in the country. EA initially refused but would later remove them on FIFA after facing a ban. In the months that followed, some major games proactively removed loot boxes to avoid any backlash that comes with them.
Both God of War and Black Ops did not include loot boxes and made their customers aware about it before releasing the games. Expect more games to remove the in-game packages in 2018. If legislation from governments goes into full effect, loot boxes may become a thing of the past. In Belgium, where they are officially illegal, you can go to jail for five years or face a fine of up to €800,000 for selling the in-game packages.
If you are in doubt loot boxes are headed for the deathbed, have a look at this EA community members’ subreddit. Users broke Reddit’s most down-voted comment record within hours after the company said loot boxes gave players a sense of pride. On the bright side, a lot of pf companies aren’t waiting for regulations and will release their 2019 games without the controversial packages.
To Conclude
A lot of great games are coming out in 2019. While some will simply be mimics of already present games, a few developers are expected to introduce new changes to their games. Multiplayers will be the main gaming format. Loot boxes may be banned for good and VR may finally find success in the casino industry.