The head of the Unity engine speaks about the future of gaming. In his view, it has already become the dominant medium on the planet, and more and more gamers are emerging. The simple reason: the older people who do not play are dying off – and those who come after them are gamers.
Who is speaking? That is John Riccitiello, the head of Unity Technologies. Many games around the world are programmed using his engine Unity, such as Escape from Tarkov, Hearthstone, or Cuphead.
In an interview with Venturebeat , he talks about his view on gaming.
When asked whether “interactive movies like Bandersnatch” could become an interesting alternative to gaming, he explains in detail how big gaming already is and how much bigger it will become.
Unity players alone are bigger than television
So big is gaming already: Riccitiello says that the games that rely on Unity reach quarterly more people worldwide than those who watch television. And that is just his company and its ecosystem: They reach several billion people every month.
He does not know of any medium as big as gaming.
A game like Apex Legends reaches more players in its first week than anything on Netflix in the entire history of Netflix.
Old generation 3% gamers – New generation 80% gamers
This is how big gaming will get: The number of gamers worldwide has increased, mainly due to mobile.
- Currently, there are three billion gamers.
- In the next five to seven years, it is believed that there will be 4 billion, according to the Unity chief.
For a very simple reason: In the next 10 years, some people over 80 will die.
Approximately a quarter of the world’s population is over 65. That is 1.5 billion people, of whom maybe 3% are gamers.
When this group dies and during that time new people are born, then 80% of the new ones will be gamers.
If 1.5 billion people are replaced, then another 1 billion gamers will join.
Mobile has done more for the number of gamers than anything else, as it has brought a device into everyone’s hands.
These are his predictions for the future: Riccitiello says:
- Streaming could accelerate the process – it will make it easier for people to access a gaming platform because there will be no purchase price
- Augmented reality and virtual reality will start to attract more people, but he does not know exactly how many
This is still important: Riccitiello means by “gamer” anyone who plays. Regardless of how long, how intensely, or on which platform. This is how the term is used in the gaming industry.
Many core gamers believe that the term should be defined much more narrowly and should apply only to those who consider themselves gamers in the sense of a hobbyist.
