Video gaming has become a rapidly growing industry worldwide, especially in Asia with over 1.48 billion players. In recent years, eSports in Southeast Asia has become a thriving industry, with the emergence of many notable gaming startups. The region is known for its strong gaming culture and is home to a large and passionate gaming community. In 2023, several new trends look set to take the gaming world by storm. Here are some top immersive gaming trends to look out for in the coming year.
Cross-platform portability
More traditional, siloed gaming platforms often limit players’ capabilities within the game, but the latest innovations in open cross-platform ecosystems, fix the problem. Amongst other options, the system enables players to use the same non-fungible tokens(NFTs) across multiple games. For example, players can acquire a weapon in one game and use it in another shooter game, enhancing their playing ability.
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Transferring one NFT from one game to another is crucial for a seamless cross-platform gaming experience. It allows players to fully utilise their assets in multiple games and metaverses, bringing more value for money and creating a greater sense of ownership and individuality. Some games supporting cross-platform NFT include Star Atlas and Citizen Conflict, both of which have won recognition in the People’s Choice Award.
Asset monetisation
NFT monetisation and game sales reached an all-time high of USD 5.17 billion in 2021. The driving force behind this stems from the issues present in traditional gaming. Previous iterations of gaming platforms have no mechanism for users to sell their assets in exchange for real money.
Some industry players are taking this idea a step further by allowing players to own and monetise large-scale maps. This approach will enable players to contribute directly to the game’s evolution and provides them with monetisation opportunities in a fair system.
NFTs
The meteoric rise of NFTs has recently created a wealth of opportunities for players to buy, sell and trade in-game items. Roblox, for example, has 59.9 million daily active users, with 25% of the game’s estimated revenue coming from the Roblox Marketplace.
Monetising in-game assets and profiles has become easier through the use of NFTs. The move towards NFT removes the restrictions on players to use only the primary markets, which may have unfavourable policies. They can now sell their assets and profiles on secondary NFT marketplaces too. NFT marketplaces like QORPO Market serve as a platform for buying and selling NFTs and a valuable discovery tool for collectors. Avid collectors who do not necessarily play games can still participate in NFT trading and support other users.
Community DAOs
A Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) is one of the most exciting innovations in Web3. The community members can interact with the DAO via a decentralised app(dApp) to make decisions based on votes. For example, a group of farmers (real or virtual) want to pool their resources to purchase and maintain a piece of farm equipment that is too expensive for any one of them to buy individually. They create a DAO to manage the purchase and use of the equipment.
The farmers will then participate in the DAO by holding tokens that give them voting rights and make decisions together based on how the equipment will be used and maintained. This allows the farmers to pool their resources and make decisions together fairly and efficiently without relying on a central authority.
Social metaverse
The social metaverse is revolutionising the gaming experience by allowing players to form communities and share moments just like in the real world. However, in meta-virtual environments, they combine digital gaming with real people. This opens up new possibilities for gamers to interact and engage with one another through vibrant communities, creating a borderless network of players.
Through Web3 capabilities, profiles provide players with a digital identity in the metaverse to ensure a seamless gaming experience. The player’s reputations and achievements are tracked with the use of smart contracts, which will improve the quality of players and, at the same time, promote transparency within the community.
The growth of eSports in Southeast Asia has been phenomenal in recent years. There has been an increase in professional gamers, events and investment in the industry, making it the fastest-growing eSports region globally and bringing in investment and sponsorship likely to reach $72.5 million by the end of 2024.
Much of this is made possible through technological advancements in areas such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. As Web3 technology continues to advance, the gaming industry is poised to take even further creative directions, leading to an even more immersive gaming experience.