The Gaming Trends Set to Dictate the Industry in 2019

by Staff & Contributors on February 19, 2019

in Gaming

One of the nation’s favourite pastimes has risen to prominence as a form of online gaming, enhancing its appeal by teaming up with another popular form of gaming, and two of the biggest names in the industry have already made huge announcements concerning the next year in gaming.

So, let’s dig into the gaming trends that have already been set in motion, ready to dictate the industry this year.

Long-awaited 2019 Nintendo Direct reveals big plans

It was heavily rumoured that the next Nintendo Direct would take place at the end of January but nothing happened. Instead, Nintendo waited until the 13th of February to reveal the Next Wave of Big Nintendo Games coming to their console.

The Switch now has a major title coming out in March with Yoshi’s Crafted World, June with Super Mario Maker 2, July with Fire Emblem: The Three Houses and Dragon Quest Builders 2, August with Astral Chain, and then Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and Daemon X Machina coming out in the summer as well.

With so many huge games now given a release date, and the likes of Animal Crossing, the next core Pokemon game, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake, and Luigi’s Mansion 3 coming later in the year, there’s no doubt that the Nintendo Switch will continue to grow its immense popularity.

Its rise to fame is akin to what we’ve been seeing with certain online gaming platforms in the UK, which we’ll get to next, with the Switch utilising a huge range of top-class games from many genres and developers to bolster its appeal across the world. The innovative console is already out-pacing the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the USA at the same point in its lifespan.

Classics combining to keep the trend going

There’s no doubt that one of the biggest comeback stories of the gaming world over the last few years has been bingo. The immensely popular British pastime has gone from strength to strength since fully embracing the internet, growing in popularity both online and in-house.

Now, online bingo games in UK have been teaming up with other very popular games to continue to enhance their appeal. So, on the bingo website, players can now find a huge range of live and instant bingo games but, if they need to wait for their next target game to start, they can have a few spins on the slots.

As increasingly popular as bingo is, slot games continue to dominate the world of online gaming, with the likes of Rainbow Riches: Reels of Gold, Starburst, Warlords: Crystals of Power, and Guns N’ Roses being among the biggest in the UK.

Combining these two superpowers of online gaming will only help to continue the upward trajectory of bingo.

PlayStation to snub E3 again in 2019

E3 has long been recognised as one of the biggest events on the gaming calendar as fans flock to feeds to see all of the latest big-game announcements from the biggest names in the industry. But, in 2019, PlayStation will not be in attendance.

Instead, the company will be hosting its own event entitled Destination PlayStation in February. SIE Worldwide Studios head Shawn Layden explained that this is because they see E3 as no-longer being practical as a trade show, given how close the June event is to the Christmas holidays.

He continued to say that as PlayStation’s strategy is to create fewer, bigger games over longer periods, E3 comes at a time when the company has very little to announce. They don’t want people to have high expectations and then be disappointed so, instead, their February event will share PlayStation’s plans for the year with retailers and third-party partners.

Given how Nintendo already make their announcements and PlayStation’s very rational decision to pull out, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if other companies decided to miss E3 in 2019 and the future, opting to make their own headlines earlier in the year when they have something to say and avoid being washed down with all of the other big E3 announcements.

This year is going to be another huge year for the gaming industry, and it’s exciting to see the new roadmaps and strategies evolve for these giants of the scene.

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