How Gaming Industry is Evolving and WHY is it Important for You

As a game developer, it’s essential for you to understand how this industry has built a close community divided worldwide who share the same passion for externalizing their inner self through games. Unity has recently released the official gaming report for 2022, with the fantastic highlight that there’s been a 93% increase of games created with this platform. Furthermore, this fact is here to stay and evolve more in the future, which is a motivational purpose for developers to keep building their worlds and share them with users. Keep reading to find out more about the key points of this report.

What are the main trends for the gaming industry in 2022?

According to the report, the number of games being made on the Unity Platform is up 93% in the last year, and the number of new creators is up 31%.

“Publishers on the Unity platform have built almost twice as many games in 2021 compared to 2020. In addition, the percentage of publishers who choose Unity as the platform to create their projects has increased by 31% between these same years, and as of 2022, this number keeps increasing.”

Before diving into how the different categories have also increased, here is how to understand what sub-categories are included for each one:

• Casual: Adventure, arcade, board, casino, casual, puzzle, and word games.
• Midcore: Card, sports, racing, role-playing, and strategy games.
• Hardcore: Action and simulation games.
• Hypercasual: Games of any genre that involve a single gameplay loop with little to no progression and monetized primarily by scaling ad revenue.
• Live games: Games of any genre in which developers offer continual content updates throughout the game’s lifespan.

The average growth for all of these categories is around 60%, led by the 137% increase for the hypercasual category.

Gaming revenue grew almost 30% last year.

With the pandemic emerging in 2020, the worldwide entertainment business had to fight its path by providing users with new ways of spending their time at home. This general fear and confusion created an initial peak in the number of users playing games created with Unity. Eventually, they ended up stabilizing after the first phase of the pandemic.

The following chart shows how the number of people playing and spending more daily time on this activity is on an increasing pattern, which is a perfect point to help you understand the potential for game development in the future.

With more people playing mobile games than ever before, ad revenue for mobile titles also grew at accelerated rates during the pandemic. As a result, mobile games revenue increased by X3 in the Americas. 

Some developers worry that ads push players out of games, as people might follow ad links and not return to the game. But ads, especially those that give in-game rewards, actually raise user retention – a trend that has consistently been documented in Unity research.

Casual games are leading the way.

Your waiting in line time to get into the dentist office is endless? Don’t worry, casual games got your back. Actually, this is the category that has shown a significantly growth of over 162% game revenue, and of course, an important increase in users. As a general trend, hypercasual games took up a larger share of the mix as the size of the player base increased.

The report adds this insight regarding revenue: “The difference is this: Hardcore genres like RPGs and strategy (as well as casino games that revolve around player transactions) derive most of their revenue from in-app purchases. Genres like word, arcade, and casual games lean more heavily on ad revenue, with hypercasual games almost entirely reliant on ads.”

Some games are truly global, but many gamers have differences in taste depending on where they live. players in the Americas and EMEA play up to 50% more hypercasual games than players in China, Japan, and Korea, where only 11.6% of games being played in 2021 were hypercasual.

Targeting multiplatform is the new trend.

The number of new ways and platform users can choose to play is significant as for today. That’s why there’s a huge interest on creating for multiple platforms with Unity. Reaching more users means more possibilities of making your project stand out and helps you build your own game creation brand. If a game can follow a player from their home console to their mobile phone or tablet, it cuts down the chance that they’ll switch to another game when they change devices.

It’s still possible to succeed even with limited resources.

There’s a major fear fow indie developers regarding the possible fight with great leading brands on the game industry. However, several projects that have succeded show us that it’s possible for a tiny team of developers (or even one) to reach the crest of the mountain. One way indie games can stand is with focused, smaller-scope games. Indie developers can also set themselves apart by taking creative risks, creating experimental gameplay designs, or telling daring stories.

Check this showcase of projects that have been created using our assets…

As asset developers, one thing we’d like to point out is that compared to previous years, users have access to great tools that make their life easier by saving time, headeaches and unsolved problems that could lead to failing the proper release of their games. In the same way that game developers aim to create their best project, we strive to create the best asset tools to satisfy any user’s request and solve most common problems. 

Check our portfolio to see the premium assets we offer…

The importance of post-launch management.

While some games are hits right out of the gate and others are obvious failures, for the many games that fall in the middle, the difference between a positive and a negative outcome is post-launch management. The strategies that got you to launch and those that you need after launch are different – but both pay close attention to the people playing your game.

Players want more content for the games they already love.

This is a great opportunity to think about creating games that will allow you to add further content in the future. When creating the guide to take your game to life, focuse on the possibility of ongoing content that grows over time. Making new content is one of the most direct ways to increase the number of people playing your game over time. Players don’t want to play the same old thing over and over again. Eventually, they will want new content.

Check the full report here.