With the year coming to a slow close, eyes in the tech world will be, if they have not already, turning their attention to 2025. The planning for next year in terms of new products and innovations will already have started, but gaming companies might be entering the new year with slightly more trepidation than in previous years. 

After a difficult 2024 so far for the industry, the focus will be on re-raising the appeal of gaming to return to 2023 levels, when the gaming industry generated USD$183.90 billion. This figure could perhaps be assessed in isolation after the pandemic years but compared to pre-pandemic revenue of USD$159.30 billion in 2020, last year’s value signifies significant growth. So, what do players in the gaming industry have up their sleeves to drive this further growth and what should we look out for?

The official arrival of VR?

For years, virtual reality technology has threatened to make a big splash in the gaming industry. However, what is still labelled as the next big thing in technological innovation in gaming has struggled to gain any sort of traction with the game-playing public. This could be attributed to a couple of reasons, one of which is the cost of VR tech. VR headsets were already expensive upon first release and tech companies like Meta, Apple, Oculus, and HTC have not backed down on their pricing, isolating a large chunk of the consumer market.

However, with each new year, new hope emerges, and key players within the virtual reality sector will be keenly following the progress of Batman: Arkham Shadow, the latest attempt to gain mainstream approval for VR-based games. The game will be released this year in October and is only available to play with Meta Quest 3 goggles. Although tech companies are not putting all their goggles in one basket, there is huge hope that the new Batman release will give the industry a much-needed boost.

Further gains for the online casino industry

A surprising ray of hope for the gaming community in 2025 is the online casino industry. Technological advancements have been pivotal to the continued growth with Artificial Intelligence providing online casino companies with rapid analytics that help them tailor gaming experiences to enhance their products. Increased accessibility due to more stable network and connection advancements also allow online casino providers to reach a wider worldwide audience. 

A greater variety of games that include a diverse range of bonuses and gameplay options are captivating gamers all over the world. Casinos at the Daily star are an example of players in the industry that offer increased flexibility regarding how strictly online casinos are regulated, while tech, especially blockchain technology, is powering many new innovative payment options involving cryptocurrency, which in itself is an extremely dependable, secure, and quick method of transfer.

Although online casinos and their latest VR releases struggle with the same issues faced by those operating in the virtual reality field, there is confidence that online casino play, and online sports betting, can continue to build on the extremely lucrative platform laid over the past years.