D1 - Justification in relation to current trends

D1 – Justifying my ideas in relation to current trends in the UK computer game market

A current trend within the video game industry is that games often blur the lines between games and social media, with games such as Destiny and The Crew, which have emphasised the sense of socialising, sharing and connectivity. Players are currently enjoying the ability to share screenshots and videos of their gameplay with others through social media. With a total social media population of 7.2 billion users, a key way to attract people new users to a game is to incorporate aspects of socialising; this also attracts a new group of people to the game, who may not have played the game before. In 2015, Social network gaming earned a total revenue of $544 million, which suggest the audience are still highly interested in games of this nature. ‘Get Trollied’ fits in with this current trend as the app gives the users the ability to share their high score with those in the UK and the world, as well as being able to add users to a group in which they can try to beat each other’s high score. In addition, during key parts in the game, such as when Bert crashes into a stack of shelves, a screenshot will be taken automatically; this will then be presented to the gamer at the end of their game, giving them the opportunity to share the images on social media with others.

DLC’s are another popular trend within the current gaming industry. Gamers are currently interested in investing within a game they enjoy to unlock new content and features. Many games, including Grand Theft Auto, Halo and Red Dead Redemption have had DLCs (Downloadable Content) released to add to the gameplay and introduce new narratives, characters and often new features. DLC’s benefit the gaming industry, by generating them more money, for example in 2015 digital games and DLC’s earned a total revenue of $2.22 billion, as well as gamers, by giving them extra content for a game which they enjoy, and therefore are becoming a bigger part of the industry. Digital full games and DLC combined grew 33.9 per cent for the year of 2015, with subscriptions gaining 12.9 per cent and mobile games growing 10.4 per cent, this suggests that the popularity of DLC’s and mobile games will continue to grow, as the audiences interest continues to increase. ‘Get Trollied’ will include its own DLC that will become available on the 2-month anniversary of the games release, it will include the chance to purchase a different level, and will cost £5. The DLC will give the user the opportunity to explore two other stores to destroy and collect points, in order to beat their high score.

Mobile games are increasingly becoming popular, over the past 3 years; the amount of global mobile users had overtaken the amount of global desktop users, which is shown within the graph on the left. This shows that people are more interested in using a portable device, than a desktop computer, which is often only accessible in one place. As well as this, it suggests that releasing a game on a PC would mean less people would be encouraged to buy the game, as many now own a mobile rather than a desktop, therefore by releasing the game on a mobile phone, the game will be accessible for more users to download and play.

Within the top 10 highest grossing games of 2016, 7 out of the 10 games were animated and including options of interactivity. For example, with Clash Royale at the top of the chart, with total revenue of $1,969,094 the game offers the opportunity for users to collect items in order to expand their collection, as well as duel with other players in real time. This justifies the idea that games, which include aspects of socialising, are becoming increasingly popular, something which ‘Get Trollied’ also offers to gamers. The second highest grossing game of 2016 is Pokémon Go, which incorporates real life and animation to create a different world for the user to enjoy and interact with, this combination proved very popular as the game become the most played game of the summer during 2016. Seven out of Ten of the highest grossing games of 2016 feature some form of action, violence, etc. For example, the top five games, which include Clash Royale, Pokémon Go, Game of War – Fire Age, Mobile Strike and Candy Crush Saga, all contain some form of destruction in order to receive an achievement. In this sense, ‘Get Trollied’ will fit in with this trend, as the aim is to destroy as much as you can in order to receive points to beat your high score. This may suggest that games, in which the aim is to destroy objects, are often therapeutic for some users to interact with, ultimately increasing the attractiveness of the game.