E3 2013 proved that gaming is going into some interesting directions as the current-gen transitions into next-gen. While trends come and go, some eventually latch into the industry's DNA like the ones listed below.
Persistent Online Worlds spreading to other genres
Massively Online Multiplayer RPGs have been doing persistent online worlds for years but by the looks of E3, its spreading to other genres. Racing games like EA's Need For Speed and Ubisoft's The Crew feature huge expansive worlds to drive in. Even Bungie's highly anticipated Destiny is essentially Halo wrapped in MMO skin. This means that the line between traditional single and multiplayer modes have been blurred beyond recognition. Most importantly, large persistent could spell the end of an over reliance on annual releases as developers are looking for ways to keep gamers from potentially trading games in.
Developers fully embracing free-to-play model
Free-to-Play on consoles are starting to become more frequent as online truly becomes to break out of only being important to multiplayer. Microsoft and Sony are all planning some form of freemium game releases on launch day of its consoles. Even the Wii U has already experimented with the notion with Tank!Tank!Tank!. Sure Xbox 360 and Playstation 4 have free-to-play games but they feel like cheap afterthoughts at times. Microsoft is making its Killer Instinct reboot a freemium treatment. Sony, however, will have two huge games at launch that use the model.
Bigger Indie Presence
Considering that Microsoft has alienated indie developers by restricting self-publishing (among other things), this doesn't relate to them much. Sony on the other hand, has embraced indie development unapologetically at its E3 booth. Tribute Game's Mercenary Kings and Young Horses' Octodad: Deadliest Catch were just as popular as AAA titles like Killzone: Shadow Fall or Driveclub. The biggest indie presence came through Google's Android platform inside and outside of Los Angeles's Convention Center. Many indie developers used Android tablets to showcase upcoming games and there's not even a point to mention Ouya's fight with the ESA.
Motion controls have been traded in for tablet usage
Ever since Nintendo's original Wii, many developers and publishers have tried to unsuccessfully integrate motion controls into games. This year, it looks like everyone (including Nintendo) gave up on trying to force something that many didn't want to be apart of their everyday gaming habit. Microsoft's exclusive Crytek launch title Ryse: Son of Rome began on the Xbox 360 as a "Only for Kinect" title until moving to Xbox One. Now the game is retooled with traditional controls with minimal usage of Kinect 2.0. Sony on the other hand hasn't even made its new Eyetoy camera nor Sixaxis movement mandatory. Ironically, tablet based gameplay that Nintendo introduced with the Wii U is coming more and more into play. Many third-party developers for Sony and Microsoft are using mobile device apps to correspond with games in interesting ways. Ubisoft seems to be going all the way in with tablet usage through The Crew and Watch Dogs. Battlefield 4's tablet usage of Command Mode has to be one of the most innovative new ideas for a multiplayer first-person shooter in quite some time.
