How the Internet Revolutionised Gaming
If there's one thing that the past few years have taught tech enthusiasts, it's that the gaming industry is not to be taken lightly. Gaming is, quite frankly, huge and is setting the benchmark for other big tech industries – even though some have quite a way to go before they equal the power of digital gaming.
While video games have been around for decades in some form or another, be they early arcade versions of Pong! or the home console games of the 1980s and 1990s, it was the advent of the Internet that changed gaming forever.
In this article, we'll be diving into how web technologies revolutionised gaming.
Gaming Today
Right now, gaming has reached heights that it's never hit before, certainly not pre-internet. The industry is now larger than music streaming and movies combined, and the world's biggest brands are clamouring to get involved. Last year, gaming generated revenues of $180.3 billion, and it's expected to be worth $256.97 billion before the end of 2025.
That's not all. There are some pretty impressive stats now associated with the global gaming industry:
- There are over 3.2 billion people playing games worldwide.
- Mobile gaming is the top-performing sector, generating 52.2% of the market.
- Console gaming will likely be worth $72.67 billion in 2022.
- Predictions for the immersive gaming segment forecast revenues of $2.4 billion.
Gaming Before and After the Internet
One of the key aims of gaming is to transport players into new worlds. However, if we compare gaming before the Internet to what it is now, we get a good idea of just how limited gaming experiences actually were. Sure, gaming tech was pushing boundaries at the time, and we were more than content to play single-player games or console-bound multiplayers, but it pales in comparison to the technology that's at our fingertips today.
The arrival of the Internet took the gaming industry on a path towards being universally accessible. While the console era of gaming was dominated by a handful of major tech corporations, digital transformation made it possible for creativity to flourish as indie developers found previous barriers to entry had been demolished.
Of course, that accessibility extends to gamers too. Instead of having to purchase single games, often with costly RRPs, new payment models give gamers access to more affordable subscription services and even free-to-play games.
One of the most impactful ways in which the Internet revolutionised gaming is by transforming the in-person gaming experience. Within just a few years, gamers were able to participate in huge online multiplayers, involving gamers from all over the world. More recently, gaming communities have grown even stronger, as evidenced by the numerous Twitch streams and Discord servers dedicated to MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) like World of Warcraft.
Video gaming is a fast-growing and popular form of entertainment, with one of the most popular being World of Warcraft. Wow boosting is a service that can improve a player's experience in the game, by offering them a list of World of Warcraft carries that can help their character progress. This type of service is invaluable to players who want to reach the highest level and offers a range of different options for players to choose from.
New Gaming Sectors
Notably, the emergence of the Internet has also created several new, online-only gaming sectors. Such sectors harness the power of connected tech to deliver immersive gaming verticals to players, which simply wouldn't be possible without a data or internet connection.
Take the hugely popular iGaming sector, which is the digital arm of real money gaming and wagering. While the likes of land-based casino gaming and sports betting still pull in audiences, the popularity of brick-and-mortar casinos pales in comparison to that of an online gaming provider like PokerStars Casino. Digital-only variants of table games like roulette can offer players a truly immersive experience, while online bookmakers support punters with up-to-the-minute betting markets and odds.
Then, there's the mobile gaming sector, which wouldn't likely be the leading market segment it is today if it weren't for the emergence of the Internet. As those of us who remember Nokia's Snake all too well know, early versions of phone-based games were incredibly primitive. However, from the very beginning of Google Play and Apple's App Store, mobile games have delivered cutting-edge experiences even via limited data connections.
The impact of the Internet on the burgeoning eSports sector also needs to be recognised. While eSports have been in play since the late 20th century, the world wide web has undoubtedly transformed the industry into the $3 billion powerhouse which it currently is.