Innovation and AI Trends: What We Can Learn From The Gaming Industry
At our recent event at UK tech festival, TechNExt we presented and hosted a panel around ‘Discovering the Future Gamer’ alongside a gathering of industry thought leaders and innovators within the gaming industry. The event fostered an enriching discussion on new innovations and AI trends within gaming and tech.
We’ve compiled a summary of some of the key discussion points from the session with highlights from our panel which included guest speakers Professor Graham Morgan Head of Newcastle’s School of Computing and Game Technology Lab and Kerri West, Head of Audience Insights at Creative Assembly.
Beyond entertainment
Working across a wide range of industries within the future of home and family life, we have witnessed significant advancement in the convergence of gaming into alternative categories. From healthcare and education to sports and even sleep, the possibilities are continuing to expand as brands are recognising gaming as an avenue to engage customers in innovative and captivating ways.
Kicking off the panel discussion following TrendBible’s presentation on ‘Discovering the Future Gamer’ Kerri West, Head of Audience Insights at Award Winning Games Studio Creative Assembly commented, ‘TrendBible have identified some themes that are gathering real momentum and some great opportunities that are just now appearing on the horizon.’
‘There’s a perception that gaming is narrowly focused on entertainment but what games can do as a medium which audio-visual entertainment can’t do so well is that we are interactive. We put the player in control. And by putting the player in control it creates more investment and a more emotive connection. There is a real desire to broaden our horizons and think about gaming experiences that do more than just entertain.’
Jenna Polley, Senior Trend Editor at TrendBible added that ‘Gaming is now recognised as a powerful tool for social connection, wellness and driving real world change. When it comes to health and wellness, we’ve seen a high number of cross-category expansions and innovations over recent years. One of the most prevalent trends to emerge is the rise of Gaming Therapeutics which continues to grow and evolve.’
As the industry grows, so too do conversations around accessibility and the barriers in gaming, driving the need for better representation and broader design thinking. Fuelled by greater diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, individuals are calling for design democracy and a better representation of marginalised groups and communities.
The rise of micro-communities
An important component of TrendBible’s forecast process is to help brands spot trends and innovation in other, unconnected industries which identify new behaviour patterns that cross-pollinate from other industries. Our Founder and CEO Joanna Feeley shared why many brands and businesses are learning from the gaming industry and considering a strategy to enter the gaming ecosystem.
Joanna explained ‘We’re living in a much more fragmented and personalised world now, and this is a big adjustment for global companies whose preference is usually to produce as little as possible and have it appeal to as many people, in as many places, as possible. We’re seeing the gaming industry being supremely well placed to cater to the level of customisation that consumers want, and also for the type of community that can be built. Community and customisation are of great interest to other industries, so the eyes of the world are really on gaming as an innovation source point to show us how to do things differently.’
Players will become the creators
Joining the panel was Professor Graham Morgan Head of Computer Science at Newcastle University and founder of Game Technology Lab, which hosts the industry-led Game Engineering MSc providing many global games companies like Activision, Creative Assembly, Ubisoft and Rebellion with over 500 alumni since its inception.
Speaking about the future opportunities facing the world of tech and gaming, such as generative AI trends and machine learning Graham predicts that ‘In the future, gamers will no longer be passive consumers of content created by others. They will be creators themselves, using Artificial Intelligence to prompt into existence games that satisfy their own unique gaming aspirations.’
Jenna Polley, at TrendBible, added ‘AI trends will inevitably push boundaries like never before. However, as this advances so too will the desire for human-centric qualities which will push gaming into new and exciting realms, all deeply grounded by empathy, emotion and social connection.’
As players become the creators, this will open vast, complex and highly nuanced challenges, opportunities and implications for the industry.
This is a moving picture, the TrendBible team will be continually monitoring the progression of generative AI and the opportunities and challenges it brings. For more information on gaming and tech futures and how to best leverage this information for you and your business get in touch to arrange a complimentary discovery call.