Is the Future of Gaming Changing Now?

There is no denying that the video game industry is in a rather unique position right now. Sony and Microsoft are both preparing to launch their next iteration of consoles. Nintendo continues to enjoy the popularity of the Switch and the Switch Lite has been well received too. PC gamers are starting to see an influx of games that they might have thought they’d never see. There’s no better time to be a gamer, right?

It’s true, as a gamer, this is one of the most exciting times of our life. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are going to be the most powerful console ever released for their respective company. Who has the most power remains to be seen, but that’s a discussion for another time. An onslaught of new games from familiar, beloved franchises. New and exciting entries coming as well, and the hope of new games from other big name developers certainly points to a bright future for the gaming consumer.

However, what about the future of the developers, game studios and corporate entities overall? Sure, financially they will be fine. After all, games, peripherals and consoles will continue to sell. Gamers will always be willing to purchase games and needed (or wanted) hardware. The question revolves more around presentations and interactions with fans.

Prior to the cancellation of E3 for this summer, yes I know that’s a bummer for quite a few of you, we already saw big names pull out of it completely and others beginning to reduce their presences at the show. A shift in delivery of information, news and hype for upcoming releases had already started well before any health concerns brought about the sensible, if not welcomed, decision that was made recently.

Already, we have seen Phil Spencer announce that Xbox will be conducting a separate, digital showcase presumably based upon their E3 plans in the near future. The popular Xbox Fan Fest even has the possibility of conducting some type of virtual event. Ubisoft also commented on potential plans to conduct an event similar to what Xbox is planning.

As of this writing, there have been no plans announced by Sony for any type of online event. One can assume that with the upcoming PlayStation 5 release, that we will hear something fairly soon about a product unveiling and scheduled game releases surrounding the event.

Nintendo already has the digital conference will in hand with its Nintendo Direct videos. It does seem reasonable that they might release a slightly larger version to cover any presence that they had planned for E3 as well.

So, is this going to be the future of how information is distributed to the gaming consumer going forward? Perhaps it is for the best as it will allow each company to have its target audience in a more convenient and undistracted fashion. Reduced cost benefits are something to be considered as well. Just think of where they could spend that money instead. Then again, the chance to interact with your gaming audience and visibly see their reactions to each announcement made can’t be discounted either as their is an incredible euphoric experience to it.

Either way things go from here remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure. This is definitely a unique and interesting time to follow the developing events and I for one am looking forward to seeing what comes next.

James Parker is a lifelong gamer and enjoys a variety of games.  Known as EpicQuiet on Xbox and Twitter.