In ten years’ time, will we no longer be able to distinguish scenes from films with real actors? Animated characters reach a level of detail that makes the predicate “Photorealism” earned?
At least Take Two boss Strauss Zelnick is convinced of that. In a speech at the industry event UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference (via Gamesindustry) the CEO of the GTA publisher had his prospect of the Future of computer games presented.
Zelnick believes that games “will look just like live action in ten years.” That should go through technical innovations
Current games and engines are already making great strides towards photorealism, for example with the help of photogrammetry:
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Photogrammetry – How do you make games photorealistic?
According to Zelnick, these are just the humble beginnings:
“Some of what we’re doing now looks a lot like live action, but it’s still animation. In ten years it will be [Entwickler] have the ability to make things look completely realistic. All done in one computer, apart from all the other advances that technology will enable. “
Are games reinventing themselves?
Zelnick not only sees the games as subject to major upheavals. Also the business aspects would have changed just as much in the coming decade as they did in the previous ten years.
The Take-Two CEO names ongoing monetization as the biggest business game changer in the recent past, i.e. live service games with business models that do not generate one-off, but ongoing sales.
Zelnick is convinced that it does not stop at the further development of game graphics and business practices. Also new gameplay elements, social features and the influence of new narrative methodology from other media could change the way we play in the future. And further:
“All of these things lead me to believe that there will be massive changes in our business, many of which we cannot quite predict. The business will grow strongly and there will be a lot of dynamic opportunity, both in terms of what we can do creatively as well as what we can do on the business side to harness that creativity. “
If you consider the transformation of 3D graphics over the course of a few decades alone, Zelnick’s forecasts seem quite realistic:
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3D graphics of games through the ages
Zelnick sees a connection in all areas of the game industry. Simply put, everything is mutually dependent: New technical tools promote both creative possibilities and sales arguments for games. And advanced game concepts could change the way you interact with games and open up new ways of monetization.
More background knowledge? We dedicated an exciting podcast to the big publisher Take-Two:
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Take-Two has GTA and NBA 2K, but do they have a plan too?
