Video games are becoming an analogue of social networks, according to CEO of the DMarket in-game item trading platform Vlad Panchenko.
“Now, games are becoming social networks and, for example, the same Facebook and TikTok understand this very well. Their task is to make social networks games, to come up with a form and format where achievements, gameplay, 5G will be perfectly combined. And such a formula is already in development, there is no doubt,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Panchenko also said that the monetization of the gaming industry has something in common with the monetization of multimedia. “If before the main method of earning for a game developer was from the actual sale of the game, now a lot will be packed into subscription services. The market is actively moving towards the fact that the developer will be paid, in fact, for user time spent in the game,” the DMarket CEO said.
He also expressed confidence that the next step in the development of the gaming business will be the introduction of the 5G mobile standard. “Closer to 2023 in a number of countries there will be enough 5G Internet so that users can play a GTA session that they started at home on a good phone on their way to work. Or continue playing Hearthstone, jumping from the phone, for example, to the refrigerator, not even to a TV panel. Such opportunities greatly transform the concept of games,” he said.
As reported, referring to Wargaming, which were citing data from the NewZoo report, the annual income of the video game industry in Ukraine in 2018 amounted to $179.2 million. This is 13.6% more than in 2017: then the Ukrainians spent $157 million on games.
