Game Development 2042 The Future of Game Design, Development, and Publishing

331 Pages·2022·7.752 MB·English

by  Tim Fields

Game Development 2042
This book is a fast-paced look at the next two decades of the games indus-
try with a focus on game design, the evolution of gaming markets around
the world, the future of technology, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data,
crypto-currency, and the art and business of creating and publishing hit
games.
The book contains interviews with a dozen veteran games industry
luminaries, who have collectively created many of the greatest hits of the
last twenty years and grossed tens of billions of dollars in revenue for
companies like Electronic Arts, Facebook, Apple, Activision, Microsoft,
Amazon, Supercell, Netflix, Warner Brothers, and others.
Game Development 2042 is meant for game developers, anyone with a
financial interest in the games business, and for gamers who want to know
what the future holds. Mobile, console, PC, web, f ree- to-play, play- to-earn,
and other businesses are discussed in depth with specific examples.
Tim Fields has been making and operating games and leading game pub-
lishing companies for more than 25 years. Along the way he has been a
part of bringing games to life in franchises like Call of Duty, Halo, Marvel,
Disney, Need for Speed, Fast and Furious, Transformers, Dungeons &
Dragons, and many more, winning multiple Editor’s Choice and other
awards, and generated billions of dollars in earnings. This is his fifth book
on the games industry. He recently served as the CEO of mobile game
publisher Kabam and currently works at Wizards of the Coast, bringing
beloved franchises to life as digital games. Tim also runs an AI focused
research company called MainBrain.AI.

Game Development 2042
The Future of Game Design,
Development, and Publishing
Tim Fields
Cover Image credit: NASA and the NSSDCA
First Edition published 2023
by CRC Press
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
and by CRC Press
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
© 2023 Tim Fields
Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and
publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of
their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material
reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this
form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write
and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, access www.
copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive,
Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. For works that are not available on CCC please contact
[email protected].
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Names: Fields, Tim, author.
Title: Game development 2042 : the future of game design, development, and
publishing / Tim Fields.
Description: Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, 2023. | Includes bibliographical
references and index. | Summary: “This book explores the future of game
design, development, and publishing, extrapolating the next two decades
through the lens of the industry’s evolution over the last ten years and
the technical advances in recent adjacent markets”– Provided by
publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022015809 (print) | LCCN 2022015810 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032272092 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032272054 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003291800 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Video games–Forecasting.
Classification: LCC GV1469.3 .F54 2023 (print) | LCC GV1469.3 (ebook) |
DDC 794.801/12–dc23/eng/20220623
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015809
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015810
ISBN: 978-1-032-27209-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-27205-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-29180-0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003291800
Typeset in Minion
by codeMantra
This book is dedicated to William Gibson, who
taught us how to see the future by looking at the
world around us. And to Dr. Stout, always.

Contents
Game Development 2042 1
INTRODUCTION 1
Hardware Advances in CPU Power, Input Accessibility, and
Battery Power 4
Pervasive Machine Learning and Autonomy Fueled by Vast
Increase in Data 5
Ubiquity of High-Speed High-Capacity Data Networks 7
Network Effect of Social Networks and Human Connectivity 8
Increases in the Amount of Leisure Time Available
for Humanity 8
A ROADMAP 9
Who Is This Book For? 10
NOTES 10
Chapter 1 ◾ A Global Community of Players 11
GAMING LIGHTS THE WORLD 11
POPULATION GROWTH 13
United States and Canada 15
Europe 17
Russia 18
South Korea 20
Japan 22
China 24
ON EMERGING MARKETS 26
vii
viii ◾ Contents
Purchasing Power of Markets by 2050 26
Southeast Asia 28
Indonesia 30
Vietnam 31
India 32
INTERVIEW WITH ZAID AZMI: INTERACTIVE FICTION
FOR THE WORLD 35
Latin America 39
Brazil 40
Mexico 41
The Middle East and Africa 42
Saudi Arabia 42
INTERVIEW WITH HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE FASIL
BIN BANDAR: THE BRIGHT FUTURE OF GAMES 44
CONTINUING IN THE LEVANT 50
Turkey 50
Egypt 51
Israel 52
The Rest of Africa 53
ZOOMING OUT 54
Conclusions Based on this Research and Demographic Data 54
How to Tailor for a Region 55
NOTES 57
Chapter 2 ◾ How to Reach the World 61
HOW TO REACH THE WORLD? 61
THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISM ON GAME DESIGN 62
DISTRIBUTION MECHANISMS 63
USER ACQUISITION 63
BUILDING COMMUNITIES 65
HOW TO REACH THE WORLD, THEN KEEP THEM PLAYING 65
INTERVIEW WITH AARON LOEB: THE FUTURE
OF COMMUNITIES 66
Contents ◾ ix
CONCLUSION 73
How to Reach the World, Then Keep Them Playing 73
NOTES 74
Chapter 3 ◾ The Evolution of Game Design 75
QUALITY IS KING 76
WHY DO PEOPLE PLAY? 77
A FEW THINGS ARE DIFFERENT… 81
DEEP SOCIAL 82
VISUALS 82
ACCESSIBILITY 84
CAPABLE DEVICES EVERYWHERE 84
CROSS PLAY AND DEVICE AGNOSTICISM 85
AI AGENTS 85
VR, AR, IMMERSION, METAVERSE 86
AR AND REAL-WORLD GAMING BLENDS 89
VR & AR COMBINED MAKE… THE METAVERSE? 90
NIANTIC AS METAVERSE 92
ROBLOX AS METAVERSE 93
TENCENT AS METAVERSE 94
EPIC’S FORTNITE AS METAVERSE 94
NVIDIA AS METAVERSE 95
FACEBOOK AS METAVERSE 96
MICROSOFT AS METAVERSE 98
METAVERSE WRAP UP 99
USER-GENERATED CONTENT 100
MODS AS UGC 102
THE WORLD WANTS TO PLAY FOR FREE 102
APPOINTMENT MECHANICS 103
EVERYTHING IS AN RPG 104
GACHA, NEAR MISS, FOMO 105
REAL-MONEY GAMING AND WAGERING 106