First of all, when we talk about video game industry trends we should state that it has gone through some drastic changes in the past few years. With the ever-changing course of digital technologies and new bars to hit, developers have to adapt themselves to these new bars. For better or worse the industry train goes hard and unstoppable and demands a flexible attitude to catch up with its tide of shifting.
Today we are going to see what these changes are and check the game industry trends. So, join us, and let’s kick into the list together.
1. Microtransactions and In-Game Payment Methods
Let us get the elephant in the room out of the way right in the beginning. Yes, we all hate that loot-box-gamble methodology of games; but it’s a big part of the industry and it seems it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
The main issue is that publishers are the ones who have tasted the sweet nectar of microtransactions and won’t let it go. Developers might be as frustrated as gamers, but publishers are the ones who make the final call and those pretty pennies are just too to be omitted for user convenience.
As of now, the video game industry is the most profitable entertainment medium and microtransactions are playing a major role in snatching the green and flowing them to the publishers. Is it a bittersweet subject for us, the gamers? No, it’s definitely bitter, but a pill that we have to swallow to see our favorite IPs alive.

2. Great Time for The Master Race
Let’s be honest, it’s a thrill to be a PC gamer in today’s gaming climate. Back in the day, you had to buy a whole console just to try that one game you liked from Sony, Nintendo, or even Microsoft itself! Nowadays, even the most important relics of PlayStation are finding their way onto computers. Triple-A and majestic titles such as God of War, Days Gone, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and, even Persona series are released on PC.
It seems the huge chunk of PC gamers and the big Steam/Epic Games community are more than appealing for console-owning companies to be ignored. The gaming ecosystem has never been much better for master race users and it is a glorious time for these machines.
On the other hand, you can try the best titles from the past with great emulators on your personal computer. There are splendid Wii U, PlayStation 3, and older game console emulators which can run any game from those eras with better visuals and performance.
3. Pay-to-Win is dead, Long Live Play-to-Win
Gone are the days when people were emptying their pockets to get a better weapon to prove a point to online people across the globe; now it’s time to get back what you paid before! With ever-growing accessibility to digital currencies and cryptos, there are millions of people on online play-to-win games to make some cash for their most valuable asset: time.
Although some big arguments are made against these types of games, but yet they stay big and strong in the market. Even though there were some controversial reports about players’ wallets getting hacked by hackers in such games, there are thousands of people who are joining called titles on a daily routine.

4. Cross-play is a Standard
Back in the day, you had to survey your friends to choose your next gaming console. If they had gone with the Sony platform, and you got the Xbox, you couldn’t join them and enjoy late-night game sessions with your pals. Or in a worst-case scenario, you wanted to enjoy those big numbers next to the FPS counter and have built a PC, now you couldn’t even imagine playing online sessions with your console-owning friends.
Now, cross-platform connections are such a normalized matter in game industry trends, that we can call it a new standard for game developers. Every day a new name pops up in the long list of cross-play-supported games and attracts new gamers from different platforms.
5. Remake, Reboot, Re-Sell
In the current video game industry situation, creating a new IP demands a hotheaded publisher who is ready to put up with a world of risks. Even making a new sequel for a popular title is a risky business and is a hard-to-swallow pill for video game studios. But nostalgia is a marvelous phenomenon; and oh, publishers know it!
Re-using those old popular titles with next-to-nothing risks is a sweet no-brainer for companies. Some of them are just satisfied with some up-scaling with higher resolutions and little changes and call this compromise a “remaster”; But as long as it sells it’s a valid option for them.
Although some bigger studios go after some of their archives and hand-pick some big names, like Capcom and its Resident Evil Series, and remake them. To remake a game, developers just re-create the game from scratch or refresh almost everything about the title.
Even in some cases, they go further and add some new content or features which is an awesome thing. Although some remakes do not deliver as they should i.e., Resident Evil 3 Remake left such a sour taste in the mouths of users after the sweet reimplementation of Resident Evil 2.

Game Over
We went through the biggest video game industry trends which are ongoing and are set to grow in upcoming years. Changes in technology are affecting us and changing how games are made and played by gamers around the world.
At the end of the day, it is more important to enjoy the medium we love so much; no matter what the trends are, the important thing is the growth and health of the video game industry. We should try to keep up with the pace of it or we are going to fall off the entertaining game train and miss so much.
Play on!
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