More gaming companies are attracting investment, talent, and global recognition than ever before, thanks in part to mainstream media and constant social media debate.
If you’re a gaming business hoping to make a name for yourself, you might ask how you can have a similar influence. In our opinion, you need to be prioritising gaming thought leadership.
What is gaming thought leadership? And why is it valuable? In this article, we answer these questions while sharing five topics you should consider commenting on.
In the past, the gaming industry was viewed simply as a sub-culture hobby. Never was it held in as high regard as the film or music business.
Now, the gaming industry dominates as the highest-grossing entertainment industry in the world, expected to be worth over $300 billion by 2026.
Journalists, investors, and the public are now more eager than ever to understand what’s going on behind the scenes.
Have games superseded Hollywood after years of trying to emulate it?
Are video game artists finally getting the recognition they deserve?
What impact can video games have on society as an art form?
No matter who you are, whether you work for a gaming distributor, publisher, or hardware company, your insights are in demand more than you might think.
For a long time in the gaming industry, larger studios dominated. They had greater access to resources, more talent, and secured contacts to already established IPs.
Nowadays, independent studios are competing much better.
Games design is now much more accessible, with technologies like AI reducing the need for an extensive production team and development time.
Developers are more robustly funded thanks to growing VC, PE, and crowdfunding.
More distributors make it easier for indie developers to promote their games to a global audience.
Indie studios also tend to take on more creative risk, while large corporates meet higher expectations of graphical fidelity, narrative, and length to sell their games at a premium.
Hence, while decades-old studios like Ubisoft face a potential acquisition amid poor sales, the indie segment of the industry is thriving, with nearly 1 in 5 US gamers now playing indie games.
Amid this shift, several questions are emerging.
Why has there been such a notable shift to indie games?
Are the high costs associated with AAA game development sustainable?
Will we see more M&A in the sector in the coming years?
Answering these questions can help developers highlight their good work, outline how the industry can improve, and ultimately differentiate themselves.
For quite some time, mobile games have surged in popularity alongside the growth of the mobile phone market.
However, recent research highlights a downturn for the industry, with game downloads falling by 10% in 2023.
Are mobile phone users now preferring to spend their time on social media apps instead? If so, how can mobile games developers win consumers back?
Executives must address this issue and settle uncertainties, particularly when they have investors to answer to.
Considering the value and potential of the mobile gaming industry, it likely will bounce back, just as long as more executives within it instil confidence.
Gaming thought leaders should focus on how their multiplayer experiences can rival the social aspects of apps like TikTok or how they can monetise their games better without overwhelming users.
But most importantly, executives need to be more present across social media to respond to consumer feedback.
This the best way for the mobile games industry to protect its relationship with its community and improve.
VR has huge potential, with numerous players, including Meta and Apple, betting on it to become the next big revelation, not just within gaming but daily life.
However, ever since it has emerged as a mainstream product within the gaming industry, sales have been far from steady.
Researchers predict that sales will decline by a further 13% in both 2024 and 2025.
While consumers favour cheaper gaming systems, many developers and tech companies have switched their focus to investing in AI, hindering VR innovation.
So, will VR ever become the game-changer it has long been destined to be?
Gaming thought leaders might just be required to lead the way.
Promoting more integration with other technologies will help create more immersive and intelligent VR experiences to attract more consumers.
Exploring cost-effective hardware and software alternatives can prompt the industry to innovate better and counteract declining sales.
Unveiling untapped opportunities for VR, whether within mental health or social experiences, can help executives frame VR as a versatile tool integral to daily life.
Besides this, there are many other topics to be discussed to further elevate VR's profile.
But staying silent will only cause VR to stagnate further.
For years, we’ve been able to stream music albums, concerts, television shows, and films reliably on-demand.
But only recently have consumers been able to stream games thanks to faster internet speeds, powerful cloud servers, and modern video compression techniques.
As a result, subscription services allow consumers to play games faster while also enabling publishers to monetise games for years after their release.
However, it's worth noting that the model still has its critics.
Consumers never truly own games despite spending a small fortune on subscriptions.
Cloud gaming is still unreliable and isn’t well optimised in many parts of the world.
Many developers are cautious of centralisation, where large corporates control distribution, pricing, and game access.
Cloud gaming relies on large data centres, which can be vulnerable to service shutdowns and cyber-attacks.
Gaming thought leaders must mitigate these risks to enhance consumer rights, promote infrastructure improvements, and encourage developer autonomy to create a landscape where cloud gaming thrives.
Just demystifying how cloud gaming works would make a significant difference to the consumers yet to embrace it.
Since the industry is blessed with numerous avenues for coverage, gaming thought leaders are spoilt for speaking opportunities.
Trade titles want developers to unpack new technologies and practices.
Broadcast media want analysts to forecast potential challenges.
Podcasts want bold characters with great founder stories.
The topics covered in this article are just a few, but getting ahead of your peers in any way could be invaluable within what is now an ultra-competitive sector.
For more thought leadership guidance, read our tech thought leadership page here.