Popular gaming niches of 2024

The year is almost at the halfway point which gives us the perfect opportunity to look back at what has defined the year thus far in terms of gaming. What type of games have people been playing? Are we starting to see a rise in a certain style of game being released? Are gaming numbers actually increasing or, for the first time in decades, are things at a standstill? To find out the answers to those questions and many more, read on…

Trend #1 – It’s a Full House!

Over the past couple of years we’ve begun to see the lines between online gambling and gaming become more and more blurred. That’s largely down to marketing from mobile gambling companies and the widespread availability of gambling.

Whilst slot machines, blackjack and roulette might be the most glamorous games that come to mind when you think of a casino it’s actually poker that is driving the growth of online gambling; particularly amongst younger demographics.

Trend #2 – VR Fairy Tale Continues to Disappoint

The trend that we are all told to look out for at the start of every year is the growth of virtual reality and augmented reality gaming. If the data is anything to go by the biggest trend of this year is that both of those technologies continue to underwhelm.

We’ve no doubt at all that in the future we will be enjoying VR and AR games, but currently the range of games is poor, the playing experience is laughably clunky and the price tag is prohibitive. All in all that’s not a recipe for success.

Trend #3 – The Waiting Game Stops

To carry on in a similar vein, 2024 in gaming has been a year that has been characterised by waiting. We’re all waiting for VR and AR technology to take off. We’re all patiently waiting for the next Grand Theft Auto trailer.

We are all waiting to see what impact AI will have on the industry and whether claims of a ‘Netflix-style’ streaming service for gaming will actually come off. Or, as we predict instead, in the second half of this year people will start to get frustrated with these claims and give up on them instead.

We’ve exercised patience for years now and claims made a decade ago that are still no closer to materialising so perhaps 2024 is finally the year we give up on bogus claims from the gaming industry.

(If everyone’s honest for a moment, it’s obvious that the quality is still lacking in VR and AR games.)

Trend #4 – Retro Gaming Resurgence

Unless you’re in the world of advertising, you’ve probably not heard of the term ‘nostalgia marketing’ but you know exactly what it is. It’s the type of marketing that makes you go ‘remember when!?’ and hark back to ‘simpler times’ and it’s almost always targeted at millennials.

It’s the reason why Barbie was one of the highest grossing films of last year, why Pokemon GO was so popular and why every goddamn movie, TV show and game you have ever played or watched is currently considering a reboot.

This marketing trend has been going on for years, but we’re only really starting to see the impact of it in gaming terms over the last 18 months or so. There’s been a huge rise in the sale of mini consoles as well as a sharp spike in games being remastered.

(Nostalgia marketing is the reason why the entertainment landscape is constantly dominated by reboots and remakes.)

Trend #5 – Mobile Gaming Continues to Soar

Your Mom games and so does your Dad and they represent a much larger slice of the gaming demographic pie than you do. That’s not a statement intended to shock you, rather it’s a statement of fact.

There’s around 3.24 billion gamers on the planet and the majority of them play games on their phones, games like Candy Crush Saga, Gardenscapes: New Acres and Homescapes. Traditionally we tend to think of gaming as a hobby dominated by younger players, but mobile technology has flipped the script.

It’s our parents’ generation that account for the biggest player numbers and they are the one driving global gaming revenues. That trend has continued this year, with Monopoly Go! Being the most popular game of the year thus far.

I hope you liked this one. As always, keep gaming guys 😉