The game industry develops quickly and new technologies appear constantly. Every year game developers come up with new ideas and make their irreplaceable investment in gaming. Due to quarantine restrictions, a lot has changed since 2020-2021: people began to spend more time at home and, of course, video games were the only entertainment. 

Such a world situation has given a great impact on the gaming industry. More and more interesting game ideas began to appear that were invented by developers to amuse people. In this way, gaming began to develop faster, there were more users, and the developers earned twice. Although quarantine restrictions decrease, people continue to spend a lot of time at a computer, console, or phone, because this year has changed the lives of millions of people. 

Since game development is actively developing now, we want to tell you about the game design trends in 2022. Today’s article is going to be interesting for many gamers. 

Financial growth and general changes

As we already mentioned above, the game industry quickly evolves and developers have a chance to earn a lot. The industry’s total revenue for 2020 was $174,9 billion, up 19.6% from 2019. Analysts believe that game sales will increase by 2022 and total revenue will be more than $200 billion. 

For 2021, the top three most popular games by the number of downloads were Garena Free Fire (266 million), Among Us (256 million), and Subway Surfers (235 million). We expected the continued increase in popularity of these games. Today, India is the only country with such a high rate of game downloads – about 9 billion. In 2022, these statistics are expected to remain the same.

The most popular game for 2021 is Cyberpunk 2077. More than 1.2 billion zlotys were spent on the creation of this game, which makes it the most expensive in history. The development of Cyberpunk 2077 began back in 2012 and many people have waited for this game for years. The problem is that there are many bugs in this game that have not yet been fixed, so many fans of this game are looking forward to improving the work of this game in 2022. 

Generally, we expect to get more and more affordable and quality games with perfect graphics and interesting gameplay for 2022. In the new year, the old genres of games will become special and popular again.

Today, games are no longer just entertainment – they are becoming a new platform for communication, earnings, transforming business, the education system and gradually blurring the border between virtuality and the real. We have divided today’s trends into three sections because there are a lot of them. 

Genre Trends

As we already mentioned above, we expect the rise of popularity of old game genres that will open in a new way and become popular. There are also three important genres worth mentioning: card games, puzzles, and riddles. Let’s take a look at the most popular among them for the 2022 year:

  • MOBA;
  • MMORPG;
  • Battle Royale;
  • Cybersport and gambling games.

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) is a genre that combines elements of real-time strategy and role-playing games. In recent years, the genre has been actively developing on mobile platforms. Now 3×3 and 5×5 team battles are available on any smartphone, not just PCs. The most popular MOBAs for smartphones and tablets in 2020 were Mobile Legends, MARVEL Super War, and Arena of Valor.

For two years, Battle Royale has been almost the most popular genre in the world. The essence of the Battle Royale genre is that the user fights against a large number of other players on a huge map and gathers resources for survival. Among the striking examples of successful games in this style – Fortnite and PUBG Mobile. 

The oldest, most popular, and sensational genre of games – MMORPG will be relevant in 2022. The genre of MMORPG games for mobile devices was less popular than for PCs because not every phone could display such games. However, with the development of smartphones, MMORPG games are becoming more and more popular for mobile gaming. Among the most popular mobile MMORPGs are Dungeon Hunter 5, Arcane Legends, and Adventure Quest. 

Starting from 2020, the gambling and cybersport industry began to develop actively, because people began to spend more time at home and access to their favorite pastime was closed for a long time. The inability of people to attend sports matches and play slot machines has taken away the opportunity to make money. Many large casino companies used the opportunity and began to create mobile applications and sites that are no different from the real game. Developers constantly came up with new marketing techniques to get people involved in games, for instance, friendly bonuses. 

The introduction of cryptocurrency into casinos, the development of VR gaming, the legalization of casinos, and the future appearance of casino games in the Play Market and App Store are the forecast for the development of casinos in 2022.

Betting will also actively develop in 2022. Now every bookmaker offers hundreds of sports and match options to bet on your favorite team. There is also an opportunity to bet on live matches that increases your chances to win. In this way, watching matches will be more interesting and breathtaking. The number of eSports lovers can increase to 600 million. 

Format Trends

The trends in gambling formats change every year. There are two trends to highlight this year: streaming and rising mobile games popularity. 

The rise of mobile gaming

In quarantine, many developers released new games and came up with more interesting details.  This will continue in 2022. The mobile gaming industry will develop at the speed of light. We predict that the number of gamers will increase to 2.8 billion, which means that every third person will play something. 

Streaming

It is the right time for the streaming era now. The development of this direction makes a significant part in the popularization of gaming. Players enjoy watching more experienced users do and comment. People find new solutions, instead of abandoning the game at a difficult stage. Moreover, streaming makes games popular and more and more people learn about them. The developers get money from this, and the players enjoy the game. 

You can also interact with the streamer using comments, which gives the impression that you are playing with a friend. Why should you pay attention to the streaming industry? Read below:

  • Although quarantine restrictions are gradually being reduced, people still spend a lot of time at home. Moreover, no one knows when the pandemic will expand.  This means that interest in streaming is only growing now;
  • There are more opportunities to make money on streaming platforms than on other social networks. The profit is also higher, but the level of investments is also higher. Therefore, there is no real competition yet – it makes sense to enter this industry right now to take your place.

Technology Trends

There are several trends worth highlighting: cloud and cross-platform gaming, blockchain, and VR technologies. 

Cloud Gaming Remove the Barrier Between the Game and Players

The technology allows you to run the most demanding games, not on the user’s device, but a remote server (cloud). The server works according to the streaming model: it transmits audio and video streams to the gamer, who controls the character from his device. At the same time, there is no need to spend money on an expensive computer upgrade, because you can start the game from any gadget, regardless of its power. This opens up many opportunities for people.

Cross-platform gaming

Another game trend that will quickly develop in 2022 is cross-platform gaming. Games that are capable of running on multiple computer hardware platforms have not evolved for a long time due to expensive hardware and lack of technology. In 2022, many developers will be looking at this possibility.

Blockchain-based Gaming 

More developers are expected to pay attention to blockchain gaming. Using this technology will make all transactions more secure and protect against hacking. People are already trying to use blockchain for storing, processing personal data, and identification in computer gaming. 

The Future of VR Technologies 

At the moment, devices demonstrating virtual reality are not yet capable of providing long-term gameplay. However, technologies are developing at a rapid pace, promising soon high demand for AV and VR.

The most expected games of 2022

In 2021, we will have some interesting projects that are worth paying attention to. Some will be released on the new generation of consoles, while others are planning to be launched only for PC. Let’s see what decent games are coming for gamers for 2021:

  1. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

The developers of this game are Dardalic. This company has the right to develop games from books, not films, and this gives a lot of freedom for the studio’s imagination. This game is expected to be released in 2022 and will win the hearts of all gamers with its interesting storyline and stunning graphics.

  1. Dragon Age 4

The developers of the game have not yet disclosed the details of the game and it is only known that the release of the game will take place in 2022. Most likely, the new part will continue the story of Solas from the Inquisition. 

  1. Dead Island 2

Since 2014, when this game was announced, the developers have started to leave the project. There was a time when the project was completely closed. However, in October Dead Island 2 was brought back into combat form and would still see the light of day. This game will be available even on the next generation of consoles. The game is expected to be a great zombie action game with wonderful graphics. 

  1. Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl

The game is scheduled for release on April 28, 2022, on Xbox Series X / S and PC. Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl will have a 100+ hour story from the main character named Skif, many new and old locations, characters, and new types of enemies. 

Conclusion 

The game industry quickly develops and new technologies appear constantly. Although the pandemic is slowing down, many people are still spending their time home and the demand for games is only increasing. According to the statistics, the number of gamers will increase to 2,3 billion people. The high popularity of games contributes to the rapid development of new technologies. Virtual reality is just around the corner and cloud gaming is already used by thousands of people. Game developers want to improve the quality of gaming and make the graphics stunning. 

2021 promises to be successful for both game development giants and exciting startups. We wish the developers success in the game industry and the players a cool gaming experience!