Gamers are living through an exceptional period in history, with more options on the market than ever before, and plenty of ways for them to play, whether it is on their phone or using consoles and expensive PC setups.
Gaming platforms and consoles vary greatly, with some focused more on portability and others trying to provide the best possible graphics, but what actually makes a good gaming platform?
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Ease Of Use
Whether we’re talking about an exclusive gaming platform in Ontario on a website, a games console or a platform like Steam, the ease of use is absolutely essential, as customers won’t have the patience to stick with something that is clunky and annoying to navigate.
It should be easy to find and load games, as well as to play them on the platform, with no annoying or awkward controls.
The ease of use relates to aspects like search functionality, categorizing of games and much more.
It doesn’t always mean the game itself, as the platform may not be responsible for this directly, but where possible, they should make things as simple as they can for their users.
Choice Of Games
When someone starts to use a gaming platform, whether it is in the form of a website, software or an actual games console, they will usually find that there are a lot of different games to choose from.
Players would usually rather stick to one or two gaming platforms for most of their playing, and the more games that are made available in one place, the better.
This is something that platforms like Steam do so well in terms of giving players a lot of choice. On Steam, games made by multiple developers are included, and are just a click away for the players.
Speed
How quick and easy is it to connect, and how quickly do the games run?
People don’t have a great deal of patience these days, and we’ve all been somewhat conditioned to be used to things being instant, or near instant. The days of having to wait ages on load screens should really be behind us in 2023.
Games may be one of the best ways to keep people engaged and help them to stay focused, which is why we are seeing so many companies turn to gamification in industries such as learning.
People love to engage with games – but only if they are easy to engage with – and speed is the primary factor in this.
A Social Element
Sometimes, a social element to gaming can be a great thing to include in a gaming platform, such as a way for people to message each other or play together online.
This really depends on the type of game – for instance, a lot of MMORPG games are reliant on players being able to communicate.
Even if we look at a casino gaming platform, some have games with a social element, such as poker games with chat functions, but others will have a different approach with games that people play on their own.
Payment Options
People have a lot of different ways in which they manage their money now, and there isn’t one specific method people tend to use, not like the days where bank transfers and bank cards were the only options.
A top gaming platform will often provide players with a few different ways to pay and deposit. Some have even taken Bitcoin or allow players to pay with crypto through a third-party partner.
Ewallet options like PayPal have also become very popular and a lot of brands are now incorporating these methods to let people put money in their account and pay for games.
Compatibility
Have you ever wanted to play a game and then realized you probably need the sort of computer they have at NASA to run it? Or that it doesn’t work on your specific device?
This can be really frustrating. Mac users, in particular, find that a lot of games don’t run well on their computers, if at all.
We live in an age in which a lot of games – especially simple HTML5 games – can be made available to play on any device, so it is frustrating when a game doesn’t work on your own device.
Similarly, a lot of people now value crossplay as a huge part of the gaming industry, so if a player wants to compete against somebody else, being able to do so online shouldn’t necessarily depend on the other player having the same device as you.
Games like Fortnite have really helped to push the boundaries of games being available to play online in a competitive forum, even if one is using a Switch and the other is on PC or Xbox.
Exclusive Games
As well as the choice of games, a lot of gaming platforms can make their platform stand out by giving players a little something extra.
This can come in the form of exclusive games that cannot be accessed easily elsewhere.
Exclusivity is a big part of the industry, and there are games for consoles that can only be played on those consoles, like the modern Spider Man games on PS5 and the games that are played on the Switch, many of which are exclusive to that platform.
Zelda and Mario games, for instance, can only be played on Nintendo. The best thing about exclusivity is that it sometimes rewards players for choosing to use a specific platform and gaming company to work with.
Conclusion
With the emergence of different gaming platforms such as PC, mobile gaming, and VR, the gaming industry is becoming more competitive than ever.
Companies are spending a lot of time and effort working out the best way for their platform to function, what it needs to include and how they can keep customers happy.
Customers will often switch to another platform if they find that they aren’t getting what they want, furthering the need to build a competitive and engaging platform.
