Gaming has had a difficult couple of years. Even in the past few days, Microsoft has canceled numerous Xbox games, resulting in scores of people losing their jobs. And they’re certainly not the first. Even though gaming is now a bigger market than movies and TV put together.
However, despite industry difficulties, gaming remains one of the most popular pastimes, offering a wide range of choices and intense competition for players, whether they are casual or hardcore gaming enthusiasts. 2026 continues to see sweeping changes for gamers, as well as industry professionals.
1. Alternative Payment Methods
Platforms like Steam, as well as individual games, accept a wider range of payments than ever before. Players are no longer faced with a choice of credit card or bank transfer.
Payment methods like cryptocurrency and alternative methods like Cashtocode are commonplace throughout the industry, and especially at online casinos, enabling fast deposits and withdrawals as well as seamless registration (source: cashtocode-casinos.com).
We may not see new payment methods introduced, but we will see more and more companies accepting a wider range of methods, ensuring they are accessible to all players.
2. Cloud Gaming
Digital game stores were heralded as being the future of gaming purchases. But, while some platforms like Steam have enjoyed continued and increased success, there are problems with most digital platforms, and these problems aren’t always the fault of the platform itself. PlayStation’s servers are notoriously slow for game downloads, true, but Steam and Microsoft offer improved download times.
But, many consoles have limited storage space, requiring a hard drive shuffle every time players want to play something new, and if you aren’t running the latest gaming rig with a substantial SSD under the hood, you may not have the hardware to store all of your digital games.
Cloud gaming potentially offers the solution, enabling gamers to play games without having to download and install them first.
Effectively, cloud gamers use hardware belonging to game companies and then stream it on their devices. Not everybody loves cloud gaming, especially if they don’t have blistering-fast Internet connections, but we can expect to see further implementation of the technology, as well as more platforms offering cloud gaming services.
3. AI Game Development
Ah, AI. Some people love it, using it to create images, memes, and even entire pieces of digital artwork, with minimal effort. Others loathe its lack of personality and the fact that it is using intellectual property without seeking appropriate permission.
But, love it or hate it, AI is here and it is already being used in gaming. In particular, artificial intelligence is especially good at creating artwork and other forms of content, and it can do so at a fraction of the cost of human developers.
Considering the video gaming industry is seemingly on its knees, it is hardly surprising that many studios have been using generative AI in their game development. We may be a few years from seeing the first game fully created by AI, but it seems likely that it is only a matter of time before it happens.
4. VR Gaming
Virtual reality has been around, in some form, for decades. But it is only in the past few years that we have seen it become more affordable and accessible enough for everyday gamers.
Because it has been out of the reach of the majority of people, publishers haven’t really invested in the technology either, which means we’ve been stuck in something of a rut. However, more companies, including giants like Apple, are releasing headsets, and this has grabbed the attention of developers.
We are starting to see major titles and franchises like the Batman games, Skyrim, and Resident Evil get their own decent VR titles. This continued adoption of VR is going to continue, and we will see improvements in the technology, reductions in the price, and an even larger library of VR-compatible games.
5. Cross-Platform Play
Cross-platform play poses significant challenges to developers. Systems like the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC use very different software architectures, which means they don’t necessarily play well together.
Cloud gaming can help, and so too can the possible adoption and utilization of blockchain technology in gaming. And companies like Microsoft look to be moving away from the production of hardware, with the ultimate aim of having their games and even their system software installed on other devices, which will also make cross-platform play even more accessible.
There are still barriers that effectively prevent cross-platform play between certain types of devices, but these barriers will continue to be eroded over time. And it can’t come soon enough.
6. Remakes And Reboots
As studios lay people off and struggle to make a profit, they continue to look for ways to affordably make new games. One way a lot of studios have done this in the past couple of years is through the remaking and rebooting of existing games.
The studio can take a title that they know will be successful, due to historical success, and then recreate it using improved engines and benefiting from better hardware.
It is a fine line between creating a modern masterpiece from a much-loved game or remaking a title that’s only a couple of years old as a serious cash grab, but it’s one that we will continue to see as companies grapple with the modern financial climate.
