The gaming industry is rapidly growing to a huge and profitable market, passing Hollywood as the fourth biggest entertaining market in the world. It earned $91.5 billion in 2015 and is projected to hit $107 billion by 2017 (Business Tech). YouTube content creators and Twitch streamers can make anywhere between $70,000 to over $1 million dollars a year. Being a gamer no longer has that stigma of having “no redeeming social value, that they are damaging to the mind, and that they are incapable of being art,” O’Reilly, Theory of Fun.
“Titles like Destiny and The Crew have emphasized the sense of socializing, sharing and connectivity. Forthcoming co-op titles are likely to build on the idea of multiplayer titles as social rather than just gaming experiences.” The Guardian
Console gaming which includes VR is expected to account for $25.1 billion and smartphone gaming $20.6 billion in 2017. With more people owing more smartphones than consoles, this shows the likelihood (which I don’t want to happen) that smartphone gaming can one day surpass console gaming.
Pokemon Go the popular smartphone game, was released in select countries in July 2016 has been downloaded over 500 million times world wide. The game was referred to as a “social media phenomenon” by ABC, which has brought people together from all walks of life.
The gaming industry is an evolving mechanism, it adapts to the technological advances we have today. Games were played on disks, cartridge, cd’s, blu-rays, downloads, and now in Virtual Reality. We’re in a new generation of gaming. “We’re now seeing the first generation of parents who grew up playing games themselves and are passing that passion and knowledge on to their children,” Allison York, Director at Nickelodeon said. And I couldn’t be more excited.
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