The event brings together anyone and everyone connected with the industry – starting from operators to regulators and vendors. The event, which was attended by a whopping 25,497 attendees from 133 countries, last year, is an ideal launch pad for new and innovative games each year. It will be interesting to watch the new and emerging games which will be shaking up the gaming industry.
The confluence of technology and gaming is opening up new opportunities. With online gaming gaining prominence, the role of technology is becoming all the more relevant in the gaming world. Some of the key technology trends impacting the gaming sector are:
Mobile - With the proliferation of smartphones and mobile devices, it’s no surprise that mobile gaming is predicted to surpass console gaming in terms of revenue. Mobile devices are also increasing the reach for gaming providers by bringing games to newer sets of audience.
Social gaming - Social gaming is gradually becoming important as it offers similar gratification as real gambling without actual monetary payout. Emergence of streaming games has become popular in social networking services such as Twitch and Facebook. Social gaming creates an engaging experience to connect with friends and meet new people online from the comfort of one’s own home. This is also creating new market opportunities for land based casino operators.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality - Improved hardware capabilities have resulted in the popularity of virtual reality and immersive gaming. While Oculus Rift is set to revolutionize the gaming world by creating awe inspiring displays along with responsive motion control, Microsoft’s IllumiRoom enhances viewer’s experiences by using geometry and appearance of the player’s room and projecting games on walls and furniture around.
Gaming on the cloud - Given the amount of data stored and the need for split-second decision making, the betting and gaming industry is witnessing a higher adoption of cloud computing. Gaming as a service or cloud gaming frees users from being confined to consoles and allows games to be played across multiple devices, anytime, anywhere.
Secondary Screens for Gaming - The mass adoption of smart devices has propelled the development of secondary gaming devices. Wii U gamepad comes with a built in touchscreen which serves as a secondary screen allowing users to play games while performing other activities simultaneously. Similarly Smartglass is an companion app which turns the phone or tablet into another screen or a remote control .
The gaming industry is beginning to see the immense potential that technology offers and is ready to push its boundaries. ICE 2016 features several sessions around topics which have become very pertinent to today’s gaming industry-such as cross-platform and multi-channel gaming, Business Intelligence, Digital gaming, cybercrime etc.
We at HARMAN, are very excited to be a part of ICE 2016. If you are at the event, please visit us at Booth # S8-155 to know more about how we help gaming providers keep up with emerging trends through an integrated approach towards Design led engineering / testing services, smart Analytics and BI solutions and leveraging the SMAC stack
