Just a quarter of a century ago, online gamess were nothing but a rudimentary website with a handful of video games. Nowadays, there are hundreds of online game sites to choose from and each one boasts a game library that’ll take you weeks and weeks to work through.
But it’s not just the quantity of games on offer that has changed – the quality is skyrocketing as well. The industry has come a long way from its beginnings in the mid-90s and it’s worth a closer look.
Game Development Studios Explode Onto The Scene
In the beginning, there were companies like Microgaming. These industry leaders when it comes to online game development are still around, but now there’s so much more. This company has partnered up with a plethora of smaller studios that churn out one creative game after another.
But here’s the thing; the massive number of new games that make their way onto the scene doesn’t retract at all from the quality. Sure, there are a bunch of carbon copies from tried and true concepts and sometimes a studio will just phone it in with a holiday-themed game or two; but overall, the quality has been steadily climbing and the players are better for it.
Bonuses and Campaigns Enrich The Experience
Playing in an online game can be an exciting but harrowing experience. Not everyone can win all the time, but when it’s you that is never winning, the fun can quickly stop.
Luckily, online games have developed quite a few incentives to get players to stick around and try out games. Namely, those come in the form of bonuses and game sites have gotten more and more creative in how they are delivered to the players.
There is, of course, no shortage of free spins (ilmaiskierrokset) for players to discover and use to try out a new or particularly popular game, but that is only the beginning of things. Online game sites have taken it upon themselves to come up with ever more creative ways to tie in their new and old games with bonuses and free offers.
Be it a holiday special, a tournament or some gear drops, there is always something new to try out to heighten a player’s experience in the game.
Where Does Online Gaming Go From Here?
Casual observers might still think that the online gaming market is in a rut and rehashing concepts that have been done over and over again. And admittedly, they wouldn’t even be entirely wrong. Just look at Max Quest: Wrath of Ra which came out two years ago to great fanfare.
The game was hailed to be the next big thing. Players were given ammunition to shoot down mummies in an ancient Egyptian tomb in the style of an ego shooter.
Wins still were random as “loot” from the shot-down enemies but the illusion of playing chops aka skill that the game was giving players was still praised to be a revolutionary concept in the online gaming industry. It was expected that other studios would follow suit and that this concept would start a trend. Yet, not much came of it and Max Quest is still an outlier in-between a plethora of more traditional video games and shooters.
It’s All In The Features
That is not to say that there are no new trends in the online gaming world. And while most video game developers stick with more traditional gameplay, it’s the in-game features that make all the difference.
Be it games that allow many ways to succeed or ever more bonus content and loot, there are new ideas in those old concepts and players won’t get bored any time soon.
It remains to be seen if video gamess will deviate from their roots some more in the future, be it in style of video game hybrids or in entirely different ways and we can’t wait to be around for those new developments.
People have always craved competition and social engagement in activities.. since the good old days of retro 8bit gaming and arcades.. Online gaming has created a solid foundation in culture and life , I see it only becoming more of a demiurge of social entertainment
I think bonuses are pretty good, but it does largely depend on implementation. But generally, I do kind of enjoy being able to log into a game everyday just to claim some kind of bonus, and I think it’s just a good strategy for game developers to adopt to retain their players. As long as there’s some kind of incentive, that’s usually a good sign of an active game, and I’m sure more online games will adopt the idea.