The Future of Games, Apps & Social Media

Several important trends will greatly affect these sectors over the long-term.

a. Search: While Google remains the dominant search engine, competition for search use is very high. The ability to search the internet (or search specific platforms), keeps users on-site or on-app longer and adds value to the site itself. Search capabilities are being embedded in apps and to some extent in social media. (Even ecommerce sites are involved—Amazon.com is one of the largest competitors for consumer search activity for the various products and entertainment services offered on Amazon.) Next-level search tools will be artificial intelligence-driven and will incorporate Smart ChatBots. These may incorporate tools from AI pioneers like OpenAI.

b. Alexa and Similar Digital Assistants (“Smart Speakers”: Extremely rapid growth in the popularity of Amazon’s Alexa and similar digital assistant technologies means that more and more consumers will be utilizing voice commands to Alexa, Siri or similarly-equipped devices to post to social media, startup apps and take other routine actions.

c. Privacy and Security: The entire world scrutinized Facebook’s privacy policies when the firm’s CEO was called before U.S. government institutions to testify. Meanwhile, the EU launched a daunting set of privacy regulations known as GDPR. Other nations are following in the EU’s footsteps in this regard. This means that social media and software platforms can no longer take consumers for granted in terms of permission to use and share personal data.

d. Security for Apps: Mobile apps present a security problem of their own, as they have been known to be used as a way to infect mobile devices with malware and viruses—particularly if the app is downloaded outside of such platforms as the Apple Store or Google Apps. This problem will accelerate over the mid-term.

e. Faster Wireless: The recent implementation of extremely fast wireless access, known as 5G, will enable games, apps and social media sites to provide much richer, more interactive features that will load and operate at blazing speed.

f. Electronic Games as Recognized Sports: Top electronic game players are evolving into media stars. They can now compete in leagues, in televised media and in live, auditorium events. The potential of eSports as an advertising and PR vehicle will quickly be adopted by the advertising industry. On a slightly lower level, groups of universities and even high schools will have electronic games teams that compete against each other. The fact that massive, global generations of digital natives now exist, people who began playing electronic games at a very early age and have been engaged in them for decades, will fuel this trend. The potential is massive, and the growth will be stunning.

g. Artificial Intelligence: AI will play a rapidly growing role in enhancing the usefulness of social media and the options and features available in games. Generative AI tools, such as DALL-E and ChatGPT will rapidly be adopted by game and app designers as a way to develop new looks, colors, layouts and features in an efficient and innovative manner.

h. Personal Computers (PCs): PC operating systems and user interfaces will become more reliant on apps, changing the PC/laptop/tablet to a more smartphone-like experience.

i. The Metaverse & Virtual Reality (VR): Immersive experiences, enhanced by VR viewing equipment, will rapidly grow in gaming and social media. Meta (parent company to Facebook) plans to be a leader in this field. At the same time, Microsoft’s artificial intelligence capabilities (including its collaboration with OpenAI), its cloud computing platform Azure, its business enterprise tools and its video gaming products all have massive potential to work together with the HoloLens product to create highly innovative services and add-on tools.

j. HD Smart TVs and the Cloud: Game consoles of the near future may face daunting competition from ultra-high-definition smart TVs with power graphics built-in. Connected to the Cloud, these could make consoles unnecessary for many users, in the same way that smartphones have taken over a vast amount of gamers’ attention.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Become a Plunkett Research Online subscriber to gain unlimited access to our massive amount of vital industry data and market research.

✔ 100,000 Industry Statistics
✔ 500 Industries Analyzed for Market Size, Profits and Forecasts
✔ 150,000 Industry Executives Profiled
✔ 25,000 Companies Profiled, Ranked and Analyzed
✔ 1,000 Vital Trends Analyzed, totaling 1,000,000 words

Learn More

How to access Plunkett Research data.

What data challenge can we help you solve today?

Take a Tour

Contact

Testimonials

The Future of Games, Apps & Social Media, Business and Industry Trends Analysis

A Representative List of Organizations that Have Used our Research and Products:

How to access Plunkett Research data.

What data challenge can we help you solve today?

Take a Tour

Contact

Testimonials