When Dark Souls was released in 2011, it did so to positive reviews, refining elements from its 2009 predecessor, Demon’s Souls. Even among its greatest admirers, no one would really be able to accurately predict the kind of impact that the game would have on the industry as a whole.
Yet fast forward even just ten years later and ‘Soulslike’ is now an entire genre, one that sees more and more games released under it every year. It can be difficult to see the kind of impact that any game can have, but those effects can do much more than just inspire other games; they can shift the whole landscape.
Convenience and Hardware
Perhaps it’s valuable to look outside of gaming to fully grasp what shapes consumer preference. After all, the gaming industry doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it sits within a whole field of shifting technology. That technology itself sits in a wider economy and social landscape.
Pulling on this thread can be exhausting, so taking it one strand at a time is perhaps easier. Mobile gaming has become more popular because smartphones are increasingly capable of supporting more fleshed out experiences, this isn’t just more demanding games but also improved versions of games that were already available. Outlets like spincasino.com can now not only offer video poker or games like Planet of the Apes and Basketball Star, but they can do so with competitive audio-visual design and a secure, encrypted platform that offers a great degree of flexibility in players’ pay and play. In this instance, the hardware itself is arguably driving the interest of a given game.
The Latest Hits
With that prior example of Dark Souls, it’s natural to look at all off the games that have been critical milestones to see what kind of impact they’ve had on the industry as a whole. In recent times alone, Breath of the Wild, God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, Elden Ring, and Baldur’s Gate have all promised to make these kinds of changes in the future. With so many hits, though, which direction will subsequent games take? Which lessons will be deemed most valuable?
It’s about incorporation and refinement. A developer known for making one type of game won’t want to shift gears entirely to emulate what a successful game has done, but they might see how they could take elements of that game and implement them into their subsequent release to enhance it.
Streams and Community Content
Looking outside of official channels is important as well, as the communities that crop up around these games are often integral to the experiences of those who enjoy them. With some games, like the aforementioned Baldur’s Gate 3, the community aspect can even become quite an important marketing tool and a way for developers to interact directly with their audience. However, even if it doesn’t go quite that far, supporting influencers streaming your game can result in it reaching a wider audience. After all, influencer marketing has shown to be successful, which is a prime area for that to occur, where streamers might not even need to take prompting from your business to showcase your product.
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