Entertainment is an area that continues to see massive changes in the upcoming years. The pandemic and the work-from-home revolution that followed it, which included massive growth in home entertainment, have accelerated some of the trends. Whether you work in the industry or are interested in the entertainment space, we list below some of the biggest top trends for you to look out for.
1. Social Video Takes Off
The rise of TikTok has become almost unstoppable and Meta with both Facebook and Instagram has started to respond. Facebook Watch is trying its best to see if it can rise to the top of the video social media throne. The one that Youtube has been on for the last decade. It has got a large user base and is generating good numbers of viewers. Meta has also started to make inroads on Instagram through its IGTV and Stories features. Some celebrities have started exclusively created content, notably Liverpool players Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
2. Online Gambling Continues to Grow
More and more countries have opened to online gambling through legislation. This has seen a host of new apps like JokerCasinoGames getting into the market. Be it sports betting in all its shapes or forms or casino-style betting apps, this space continues to grow. The global sports betting market in 2020 was estimated to be USD 65.29 billion and is expected to grow 10.2% per year to reach USD 139 billion in 2028. Whereas the online gambling market is expected to reach USD 150 billion by 2030 enjoying annual growth rates of 11.7% from 2022 to 2030.
3. The Growing Number of Streaming Services
Streaming has exploded during the pandemic, with Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO Max and Hulu increasing their subscriber numbers. Of all the competitors of Netflix, Disney+ is making real inroads, 5 months after the launch it had 50 million subscribers and this has grown to 152 million in the 3rd quarter of 2022. Some have tried to enter the market like Quibi by paying over the top for content but its existence was shortlived.
There is another more interesting trend of niche content providers. Crunchyroll has made a name for its dedicated anime service and there is RealVison which is making a name for itself as the Netflix for finance and investing.
4. Cloud Gaming Becomes Mainstream
There are 3.2 billion gamers in the world and they got treated the Xbox Series X and the Sony PlayStation 5 back in November 2020. There are a few trends that are gaining traction like augmented reality, virtual reality, esports and mobile gaming, but the biggest new trend is cloud gaming. Instead of having powerful hardware at home, the gaming content is streamed via remote servers to a less powerful and cheaper gaming device. There seem to be 4 big players in the market for cloud gaming, Google Stadia, Nvidia GeForce Now, PlayStation Now and Xbox Project Xcloud. All you need is a good fast and stable Internet connection to be able to play these games.
5. Direct Fans Support Of Creators
Direct fan support become one of the biggest trends in entertainment over the last few years. The reason behind this is that a large number of US households have ditched traditional TV. YouTube has seen a massive increase in content creator channels left by the gap in declining TV viewers. The problem with a lot of individual content creators on Youtube is that it is hard making a living from the ad revenue. This is especially true for channels that cover niche topics. Sites like Patreon are a big help to these creators and fans can help support them directly. Patreon supporters pay a monthly fee that goes straight to the creator. In exchange, they get exclusive content or live Q&A sessions. Youtube seems to be on to this now as well with their latest channel paid subscription offers that come with additional extra services.
