With eSports gaining popularity as well as exciting game releases, 2019 looks like a big year for the gaming community, writes Aiman Maulana
WE’VE seen a number of excellent game releases, a better support system for indie game developers across the globe, as well as the rapidly growing popularity of eSports.
This signals a better year for the gaming community.
NINTENDO DOMINATION
The Nintendo Switch is the most innovating game console yet and it has already sold 22.86 million units since its launch in June 30, 2018.
This number is dwarfed by the PlayStation 4 with 91.6 million units, which has been around for six years whereas the Nintendo Switch is only 1½ years old.
With rival consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at the end of their life cycle, consumers who have yet to own one are less likely to purchase them compared to the Nintendo Switch, which still has a long life ahead of it, meaning more games are on the way.
With rumours of a Pro and Lite version of the Switch, it may be able to cater to a wider audience on different price points.
Piers Harding-Rolls, Director of Research and Analysis Games at IHS Markit, said that the Nintendo Switch will have significant impact in the console games market with it being “bolstered by continued growth in paid downloadable content and the strong software performance on Nintendo’s Switch”.
This finding is further supported by the fact that major publishers like EA and Activision are gearing up for more releases on the platform.
DAWN OF CLOUD GAMING
As technology advances, the need for stronger hardware rises over time.
However, there may come a point where hardware upgrades may be too costly for consumers. Instead of purchasing hardware, what if you can subscribe to an online service that will handle compute processing? That is cloud computing and it can theoretically be applied to games as well, paving the way for cloud gaming.
It is expected that activities surrounding cloud gaming will begin to grow significantly especially with efforts from Google’s Project Stream and Microsoft’s Project xCloud. There may also be other industry players joining the fray as interest on cloud gaming such as from publishers and other tech giants continues to grow.
However, Harding-Rolls noted that while interest will grow, it will still be too soon to see a significant commercial impact.
He added that “current services are a niche market opportunity at less than two per cent of overall games content and services spend, and I don’t see new services changing this market dynamic quickly”. It’s akin to the beginning of something new rather than rapid adoption of the technology.
PC GAMES DIGITAL MARKETPLACE COMPETITION
Since its launch in September 2003, Valve has dominated the digital marketplace for PC games with its Steam storefront.
With affordable prices and consumers owning the game virtually forever, it managed to cause such a huge impact on the games industry that physical copies of PC games have become irrelevant and further reduced the needs for an optical storage drive on PC.
However, that market dominance may come to an end soon as both Discord and Epic Games have launched their digital games marketplace.
For starters, Valve is taking a 30 per cent cut of every sale made on Steam while Discord and Epic Games will only take 10 to 12 per cent of each sale on their respective store fronts, giving developers and publishers the opportunity to earn more.
Coupled with other benefits such as fee waivers, the end result can also benefit consumers as games can be sold for a lower price while still maintaining a healthy profit for the creators.
Of course, Valve will not sit idly by as it will take necessary action to keep creators and consumers on its side, which will result in fierce competition in the market this year.
EASIER TO ACCESS
Unlike mainstream gaming where you adopt a specific hardware to play, mobile games are easier to access. Virtually everyone owns a smartphone regardless of whether it’s Android or iOS.
This lower barrier of entry means that mobile games are able to cater to a wider audience compared to other platforms.
According to market intelligence firm Newzoo, the games industry is valued at US$137.9billion (RM567.6 trillion) globally and mobile games make up 51 per cent of that valuation at US$70.3 billion with 25 per cent year-on-year growth.
Not only are mobile games expected to take a bigger cut of the pie this year, it is also expected to further boost the valuation of the industry as a whole especially as mobile eSports becomes increasingly relevant.
With major publishers like EA and Blizzard gearing up to solidify their presence in the mobile space, a much bigger growth for mobile games is expected.
In fact, EA has released its Command & Conquer: Rivals mobile game and Blizzard is working on the Diablo Immortal mobile game. There will certainly be more to come from other game giants.
ESPORTS CONTINUES TO GROW
This year is expected to be another great one for eSports as it continues to grow even bigger.
For starters, eSports has received official recognition as a full-medal event in the 2022 Asian Games but that’s not all. The International Olympic Committee has been in discussion to include eSports in the 2024 Olympics in France. It has been engaging in talks with major players in the eSports industry since last year and expect to hear more about this later this year.
As for Malaysia, the government has allocated RM10 million towards the growth of eSports under Budget 2019.
Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan is also putting in RM10 million for eSports in Malaysia after hearing of the budget allocation. The potential for Malaysian eSports this year is even bigger, and there will be plenty of exciting things to look forward to.