Video game voyeurism
Lives streaming and sharing game play was around before 2013 but this was the year where it got some real traction which the website Twitch was ahead off. This was the major year where Live streaming Games got its recognition. YouTube may have played a major part in this.
Source: http://cdn1.eveonline.com/www/newssystem/media/65538/1/twitch-tv-bot.png
Virtual reality gets real
2013 was a major year for virtual reality, it was around in 2012 but in 2013 hundreds of developers got their hands on the Rift dev kit and they started making tons of virtual reality games.
Source: https://dbvc4uanumi2d.cloudfront.net/cdn/4.3.11/wp-content/themes/oculus/img/order/dk2-product.jpg
Major console makers court independent developers in a big way
This was the year where developers instead of them trying to get console developers to hire them console developers went out to find independent developers to make games for their specific console.
One of the biggest components of this trend is that game developers can self publish and this is great so now they don't have to get a publishing partner.
Source: http://compass.xboxlive.com/assets/4a/82/4a8207ba-1c17-4b2c-90ca-49baac73b5a3.png?n=System_corner_600x456.png
Selling games before they're done
Selling games before they're done is also known as early access and this is a good and bad thing.
Its good because it helps the developer fund the game getting it out faster.
The bad thing is that this can lead to a game being rushed if the developer gives up on the game after they have received enough money.
Two of the biggest games created using early access is Minecraft and DayZ these two games got huge with millions of people supporting the developers but the difference between the two is that Minecraft was a well developed game but DayZ is just broken, the developers just stopped trying after they received enough money.
Major places to find early access games to support is websites like Kickstarter some off the games even allow donaters to play pre builds of the incomplete game.
Source: http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u162208/kickstarterimagefornewsarticle.jpg
Trends of 2014
The flood of Steam
This was the year where steam opened to doors for new possibles for developers like allowing them to use steams very popular platform to post their games.
Valve lowered the standards of games to be allowed to be put on steam this doesn't mean all broken games are allowed to be on the platform but this does mean some broken games would slip through.
The impact of steam's now increased amount of games published on the platform has had a massive impact of smaller developers because games that really stand out don't get that opportunity anymore.
Devaluation of games
This is basically where you get things cheaper or Free.
Most of the biggest company's in the world have started devaluating games through special offers for example Microsoft with the Xbox One they do Games with Gold where you get a Random Game for Fee each month and also get special offers abit like the steam sales where big games from previous weeks go on sale.
Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/blog/207128/pennyjar.jpg
YouTube and Developers
YouTube has become a great way for developers to show off their game to a wider audience especially through entertainers who use YouTube as a source of popularity.
Developers now can use popular YouTubers to get a decent amount of publicity.
Building relationships with YouTubers is very important for developers now because if they get someone popular on their side who has Millions of followers the developers will get millions of viwers from the Youtuber wanting the game
Trends of 2015
Mobile Apps
Games on the app store and Google play store have been getting more revenue than ever this year.
Games on the App Store are overall 75% of all income.
Two best selling games on the App store have earned more than 1 million dollars a day during October 2014. Supercell’s Clash of Clans, which is a #1 top grossing game, had an average daily revenue of $1,387,620, and King’s Candy Crush Saga, which is a #2, made $1,097,578 a day.
This is incredible and it takes such a small development team to create these types of games.
Source: http://cdn02.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/google-vs-apple-app-store.jpg
