The Unstoppable Rise of Online Gaming
According to data readily available on WePC.com, in 2011, the online gaming industry had a market value of $21.1B, but by 2019, that market value had grown to $33.6B, a significant 59.2% growth rate, a trend that most experts in this field predict will continue bullishly into the future.
This eye-opening data clearly shows that the growth of online gaming is unstoppable. The data does cause one to introspect and ask important questions such as the factors influencing this bullish growth, and more interestingly, whether these factors are likely to remain constant, improve, or decline in terms of advancement as we head into the future.
Image courtesy of WePC
This post looks to answer these questions and in so doing, to highlight the primary factors driving the rise of online gaming:
Factors Fuelling the Rise of Online Gaming
Like most industries, the online gaming industry has a horde of influential factors many of which have significant influence on the state of the industry. With that noted though, the most significant factors fuelling the current bullish growth of online gaming and gambling are:
1. Internet accessibility, global connectedness, and smarter, portable devices,
2. Ease of use in the sense that online gaming/gambling platforms, poker and slot games are easy to use and require very little hands-on knowledge to get started, and mass appeal.
Let’s examine these two above:
1: Internet accessibility, global connectedness, smarter devices
The rate at which the internet has changed how we do things is the primary factor driving the growth of online gaming. Inter-accessibility, and the fact that our internet speeds are now faster and more capable, a trend expected to continue upward with the introduction of the 5G network, means our devices are now capable of sending large packets of data securely, something online gaming capitalises on to deliver high quality game environments.
Improved internet access and the resultant global connectedness has made it easier for players at ends of the globe to play multiplayer online games, quests and to gamble as if they were in the same room, a factor that has contributed significantly to the mass appeal that online gaming and gambling are now enjoying
Moreover, because our devices are now smarter, faster, and more portable than ever, online gaming and gambling are both enjoying such significant growth because smarter, more portable devices make it possible for ardent online gamers to play resource demanding, high-graphics games on portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. This alone has significantly influenced the rate at which online gaming has grown —and will continue to grow— because portability means that online gamers can continue playing online games on their portable smart devices as they commute to work or during short break sessions during the day.
2: Ease of use and mass appeal
The online gaming industry is growing so rapidly because the underlying technological advancements driving this technology are revolutionising how we interact with games using graphical interfaces.
Most online games are very interactive and at the same time easy to navigate and operate using a basic number of functionalities and keys —think the common keys used to move a player forward or sideways within a certain online game or common keys to complete tasks such as to run an online slot machine.
Because of this factor, online gaming and gambling platforms have become easier to use and comeon.com is an example, even by technologically disadvantaged people such as baby boomers, which has driven upwards the popularity and mass appeal of online gaming/gambling and given the prospect of a general mass appeal.
The fact that online gambling games such as casino poker and slots have a high degree of playability also adds to the mass appeal and because most of these games have in built reward features that keep a gamer glued to a screen and coming back repeatedly, this trend is likely to continue long into the future.
In particular, online gambling and playing online casino games and slots has become so popular and the popularity of these online gaming mediums has seen significant growth because of the comfort and convenience of playing these games.
Unlike traditional casinos where to play, you need to move to a physical location, with online gambling games, casino poker games and slots, players do not have to leave home, and even when they do, they can take the games on the go. This has made it easier to online gamers to continue playing and gambling, a trend that is unlikely to see a bearish run any time soon.
Conclusion
The growth of online gaming is unstoppable and shall continue its bullish run long into the future because the primary factors we have outlined here are unlikely to shift downwards.
Our internet connections are undoubtedly going to improve with the introduction of 5G and people will continue buying smart devices and computers, which will continue enhancing the growth of online gaming and gambling. Moreover, since we are at the advent of interactive VR game technologies and advanced technologies such as the internet of things, better quality graphics, more computing power in smartphones and other devices, etc., you can bet that post 2030, the probability of the online gaming industry having a market value of over $100B is very high.
