As digital consumers, we are rapidly becoming multi-device, multi-platform users. According to a study at https://www.statista.com, we spend a significant number of hours a week playing games or accessing game-like entertainment portals, with the UK spending over 10 hours a week during 2018. And that’s just an average, sampled from the overall population.

It’s crucial for brands to know exactly where their target audience spends their time as well as how and why. New channels and device types are becoming central to what we do for entertainment in our free time – among millennials in particular, eSports has accrued a massive following, while more niche systems such as VPN are growing in popularity as we gain a greater awareness about guarding privacy and security when using potentially risky open public network connections.

Tech breakthroughs enable innovations

The exponential speed of breakthroughs in technology is allowing portals like https://casino.betfair.com/ with its multi-themed casino gaming scenarios and range of offerings to explore the creation of multiple storylines as well as incorporating animation and 3D graphics. Online gaming has always strived for the greatest possible realism, immersion and group participation. These qualities are now attainable, so game developers can weave them into their gameplay formats. The ‘mechanics’ of gameplay are discussed at https://mobilefreetoplay.com/, and we can even go back to basics as players are looking for innovations in the four fundamentals of gaming:

• Collaborators or opponents
• Actions to be performed
• A series of decision points
• The payoff (or reward)

Ongoing developments in processing power and speed of data delivery can now create powerful combinations of spectacular graphics interfaces and highly motivational game mechanics. Yet all this technological advancement only serves its purpose if it is fuelled by a powerful source – data.

Harnessing the power of data

Data is a powerful and highly efficient tool for predicting emerging trends and consumer behaviour which allow the industry to target and tailor content and delivery to its consumers. Its analysis and in-depth application are creating gaming elements which can use automation, AI and machine learning to increase the sophistication of elements which are key to satisfaction. This data is applied in several interconnected ways throughout the company to improve the consumer’s experience and enhance its business performance.

Multi-device adaptability

Google has now introduced a mobile-first index for ranking websites. It has also officially stated that mobility is now a ranking factor in its own right. These two moves combined will force gaming operators – whether casinos, free-to-use or streaming portals – to reinforce their focus on mobility – both in the games they offer and how they harness powerful tools like augmented reality, 3-D and real-time responsiveness.

There’s plenty of material to choose from when we look at the variety of game types most popular among users. This list of twelve at https://thoughtcatalog.com shows just what potential there is for more powerful and sophisticated extensions (and even re-inventions) of existing formats.

The ‘gamification’ of gaming principles

The global gaming industry spent a breath-taking $137.9 billion in 2018, and the concept of ‘gamifying’ (gamification) has been used in many apparently non-gaming situations. These principles have been applied to such areas as business training, team-building and healthcare, and what’s clear is that the future suggests that gaming will become an ever more important part of how we operate.