NGDC 2012: Glen Schofield on state of the games industry

At the NASSCOM Game Developer Conference 2012 being held in Pune, VP of Sledgehammer Games (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3) and former general manager of Visceral Games (Dead Space), Glen Schofield weighed in on the current state of the gaming industry.

He advised those in the industry to brace themselves for a rough patch because of the economic slump, the shift from consoles to mobile platforms, and the end of the current console cycle, but just as sunshine follows the rain, he predicts good times ahead.

He drew up some promising statistics, estimating the growth of the global industry (including both software and hardware) from $67 billion to $100 billion by 2015.

It’s no secret that mobile and social gaming is on the rise, but while many core gamers look down upon both mediums, Schofield feels mobile and social gaming is here to stay.

He is of the opinion that mobile devices can be the gateway to core gaming, increasing awareness among the non-traditional demographic. As technology improves, he foresees better looking games on handheld devices, ultimately rivaling their console counterparts. Infinity Blade and its sequel were obviously referenced.

He also estimates that a staggering three billion people will be using smartphones by 2017, so obviously the potential is huge.

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