How has IoT and other evolving technologies impacted the online gaming industry?
The Internet of Things is the modern day Cloud; it’s the hot tech topic that’s on everybody’s lips. IoT has already started to become a staple part of many people’s lives, both in business and at home. One of the major industries in which it’s making an impact is gaming, most specifically online gaming.
Consoles and Mobile Gaming
By definition, online gaming is the action or practice of playing video games or role-playing games over the Internet. These games can come in all shapes and sizes and be played across a plethora of different platforms.
Consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox are an extremely popular way of gaming online as they provide us with great graphical capabilities as well as the option of huge screens. The benefit that we now have with consoles is that they’re capable of accessing the internet quickly and easily. If we go back 10 years this wasn’t the case at all.
Mobile gaming is another branch of online gaming which has taken off in recent times. Again, this is in no small part down to the developments in technology. A few years back our phones had 2 inch screens without colour displays; this whole market has changed and we’re now able to immerse ourselves in console- quality games.
Betting and Casino
The other area of online gaming that’s often glossed over is the gambling industry. Online casinos have especially been affected by the growing trend of IoT. Having poker and slots available remotely means it’s much easier for players to gamble in a casino as they no longer have to make the trip. This works fantastically well for casino’s as they previously had to rely on customers visiting them in order to generate revenue.
Another development in this sector has been the introduction of Virtual Reality Casinos. These have been a big hit already and they’re set to become a prominent feature in the future of gambling.
IoT’s Impact on Online Gaming
The emergence of IoT has no doubt helped to bridge the gap between platform and player in the gaming industry. IoT allows our devices to collect information about us that they were previously unable to. This information then allows our devices to tailor the gaming experience to suit our wants and needs.
As time passes it’s likely that gaming will move more and more towards virtual and augmented reality. We now live in a society where we expect our technology to be small, compact and handheld; so despite the evolution of our popular consoles there is a distinct possibility that in 15/20 years, consoles as we know them will be no more.
