Competitive Edge: Gaming Trends to Know About in 2023
Published 09 February 2023
The metaverse – which is broadly expected to encompass 3D virtual worlds inhabited by avatars – is a $1tn business opportunity. This evolution of the internet will use tools and interfaces pioneered in the gaming sector, which leads innovation on how people experience and interact with such virtual worlds.
Dedicated high-end consoles are no longer the sole portal for highly engrossing interactive entertainment: mobile gaming alone is set to generate $1.3bn this year, signposting an opportunity to connect with both casual and passionate players alike.
Explore four of our key global gaming trends below.
Cosy Gaming
Signalling fresh directions for interactive entertainment, cosy gaming allows players to choose gentler scenarios over bloody battles, like tending to virtual gardens and having pixelated picnics. Seventy-five per cent of gamers in the US cite stress relief as the second most popular reason for playing, revealing a core driver behind the explosive growth of low-pressure cosy titles.
A gaming trend defined by how games make players feel, rather than what they need to do, cosy gaming commonly has open-ended objectives, and focuses on nurturing digital homes and friendships. One company betting on this trend is Netflix. In November 2022, it acquired Spry Fox, the developer of Cozy Grove. This game is set on a haunted island, where players can set up camp, wander around, and help soothe and care for local ghosts in an effort to bring colour and joy back to the island.
With wellbeing an ongoing consumer priority across industries, businesses should take note of how cosy gaming opens up a different, meditative route to escapism in interactive entertainment. Not everyone who desires distraction from everyday stressors is a thrill seeker.
Creating Corners to Accommodate Community
Building on the prevalence of cosy gaming and the consumer interest in community, spaces where people can design their own digital worlds are enabling self-expression beyond skins and avatars. Here, users can create and own a corner of the internet, let their creative self-expression run wild, and share it with others.
Gen Z and Gen Alpha in particular have an appetite for building virtual worlds of their own, highlighted by the presence of over 40 million user-created Roblox experiences. A gaming trend that overflows into digital media, pop culture and beyond, businesses should look to digital games such as Animal Crossing, Minecraft and Roblox for creative ideas on how to empower people to craft community spaces.
Choose Your Own A(I)dventure
From avatar-creation app Lensa AI to the elaborate chatbot ChatGPT, generative AI tools are luring millions of global users into quickfire creative experimentation with machine learning. Such tools can provide a shortcut to ideation and even enable personalised adventures with prompts that invite people on narrative journeys – social or solo. And savvy brands are already responding to this new fascination amongst consumers.
Take US studio Latitude, for example. It uses AI-generated text to automate fantasy role-playing games, such as the 70s-originated Dungeons & Dragons. This means people can now set up the world they want to play in, and choose their own adventure story – with endlessly branching options and challenges.
The Esports Opportunity
Esports’ exponential growth has seen the sector ascend from a niche interest to an everyday entertainment habit, especially in the APAC region. There, 160 million people engage with esports content (such as competition broadcasts, athlete livestreams, and grassroots tournaments) multiple times a month.
With a large, varied audience, tapping into esports could provide your business with access to a diversified pool of consumers. But how can you join in? Draw inspiration from Marriott Hotels, which recognised the opportunity in this digital gaming trend through its partnership with King Pro League – the world championship tournament for Honor of Kings (the highest-grossing mobile game globally, surpassing $10bn in total player spend).
As part of the partnership, 24 Marriott hotels across China created dedicated viewing spaces for matches, meet-and-greets with players, and fan get-togethers. As many of these hotels were located in so-called second-tier cities, with populations ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 people, this is also an example of how businesses like Marriott Hotels can leverage brand penetration to bring in-person esports experiences to a wider audience.
Gaming’s audiences are vast and varied – for instance, the share of gamers aged 55-64 has grown by 32% over the past two years. The cosy gaming boom highlights the swift diversification of interactive experiences – and reveals opportunities for brands from all industries at the centre of mainstream entertainment.
Now it’s your turn. Facilitating social connection and building community are at the core of all of these gaming trends. Turning to the digital gaming world for inspiration, how will your business increase engagement with – and expand – future audiences?
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Stylus experts are constantly tracking digital media and entertainment trends and analysing what this means for the future of businesses across industries. Members get full access to our regular Pop Culture & Media reporting.
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