The world has changed drastically since the beginning of 2020. All human beings had to combat against unexpected challenges brought by the global pandemic, but with the help of technology, we see where innovation can take us and create opportunities for this new normal. Here we sum up CRE8’s thoughts on some consumer and gaming trends for 2021.

Homercise

Numerous cities have experienced different phases of lockdown, but even for those who live in places that manage to control the pandemic, fears still exist for going to gyms, swimming pools, or practice fields. That is how in-home exercise becomes relevant not just to burn calories, but to constructively enhance physical and mental health.

E-commerce platforms see a significant increase in the sales of home sports equipment. This encourages the development of more innovative, sophisticated equipment such as connected, interactive wearable sports gear and new accessories to support in-home exercise.

Gamercise

Game exercise is a technology-driven activity that requires participants to be physically active in order to play games in the virtual and digital world. It is fun, good for family bonding, keeping people motivated, and at the same time, improving health conditions. The surging phenomenon has brought needs for novel designs such as exercise-based gaming controllers, accessories, VR-oriented immersive wearable gear with sensor technology, as well as all kinds of easy-to-install support systems and equipment.

Craving Connection

Being socially active in this pandemic era has a very different interpretation. When home becomes a safe bubble, and isolation is instructed, people aspire to stay connected more than ever. Consumers are willing to spend on upgrading smart home infrastructure, building a home office or home classroom. Smart IoT devices, virtual conferencing software and hardware, ergonomic furniture, a pleasant décor are all needed to create a healthy, balanced, and efficient living/work space.

For those in the WFH mode or who cannot travel to meet family and friends, the lack of physical connection can really cause depression. Many choose to have pets as their companion and pet care products, even electronic ones, are in high demand.

Home Bucket List

2020 was a tough year, but because of the time people were given when staying at home, many decided to pick up new hobbies or skills for self-fulfillment, and some even created new business opportunities. We noticed that cooking, gardening, and e-learning have become growing trends, which inspired new product ideas and streaming services. Smart gadgets for tending your plants, cooking a healthier meal, and access to various sorts of online courses all infused life with positiveness.

5G Gaming

With its super-fast speed and low latency, 5G networks will have huge influence on many industries. Particularly for gamers, it means exciting prospects of playing triple-A games using the cloud without having to purchase expensive, high-performance consoles and PCs, which boosts the growth of cloud gaming platforms and enables gaming to go truly mobile.

5G will also unlock more possibilities, making virtual and augmented reality mainstream at affordable prices with new VR/AR accessories at-home or on-the-go that bring a more immersive and realistic gaming experience through responsive, haptic feedback.

Cross Platform Gaming

The popularity of cross-platform gaming means that more and more titles are available for multiple systems, and can be played simultaneously using different hardware platforms and consoles, namely Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. This integrates the gaming communities, increases interactivity for multiplayer games, and expands the game coverage.

The most common challenge for supporting cross-platform gaming is to overcome the differences in control schemes between consoles and computers. To keep up with the trend, new types of controllers are on the way, or maybe, no controllers will be needed anymore when you can just use body motion and sensor technology to play the game without limitations on space and time.

Environment Modding

With increased time spent on gaming at home, it is logical to move your outdoor activity budget to your living environment redecoration and make it more comfortable as well as suitable for an immersive and interactive gaming experience.

For those who have spare rooms, it will be super exciting to build a dedicated gaming room with lighting, sound effects, high-performance PCs, consoles, ergonomic peripherals, and gaming chairs or even gaming beds; for limited space, gamers can still smartly add essential items that elevate the overall gaming experience.

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