Dynamic video game industry making publishers and developers uneasy
The video game industry is going through a transition phase for the last few years, with the environment becoming extremely dynamic and its predictability coming to an all time low.
Research and development has become an integral factor in determining the success of a company, be it a small setup or a whole corporation.
The society has not only gotten used to expecting this change, but is in fact looking extremely satisfied with the way things are getting better and better with every passing day.
Unfortunately, the gaming industry is struggling to keep up with the rapid changes that are taking place outside of it
It is indeed making an effort, but how far are these efforts proving successful in keeping it healthy is something that is still very much debatable.
Introduction of new business models, discovering new distribution channels, adopting prevailing trends and presenting them in a somewhat original style are just some of the things that the industry is using as tools to stay alive.
However, things are not looking as good as they should be, particularly because of the lack of certainty and the increase in risk.
The advancement in technology was not as fast as it is today, especially with the smartphones and tablets competing against competitors.
The publishers and developers, on the other hand, are not used to such a dynamic environment and are instead more comfortable with a setting in which it is possible to predict, to an extent, what is going to happen in the not-so-distant future.
This predictability stayed there for nearly two decades, allowing the stakeholders to comfortably adapt to whatever changes arrived, but it is no longer there and thus the game making business has become riskier than ever.
There is no telling if investing resources in a certain idea will bring the desired response from the gaming community because development of games require time and by the time a game is released, there is a good chance that the trends and demand may have
changed.
One of the biggest problems that the gaming industry is faced with is the heavy dominance of primitive technology.
While a PC is continuing to become more powerful, the consoles, the seemingly favourite platforms for publishers, are not evolving at a similar pace.
As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the developers to successfully convert their ideas into gameplay features as the technology that they are forced to use and the one that the likes of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 supports does not allow
them to go beyond a certain limit.
Despite all this, some of the developers are not completely hopeless about the situation.
According to Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price, the industry is undergoing change and has indeed become more demanding, but that is just because it is reflecting the society, which is experiencing a massive change as well.
Some analysts are sceptical about the gaming industry being able to survive in the dynamic environment for too long, though such pessimistic prediction has not gained a lot of support.
Things are expected to improve significantly once the likes of Sony and Microsoft introduce their next-generation consoles into the market, which would consequently drive publishers to take more risks and developers to inject fresh and unique ideas into
the games.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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