Gaming legend and founder of industry powerhouse Electronic Arts, Trip Hawkins, used his keynote at Apps World 2013 to speak about the current industry shifts within the field – alongside some powerful thoughts about how we can improve and revolutionise education.

Kicking off his speech he reiterated the power of social media; a big theme across everything Trip spoke about going forward. A memorable quote came from “in the future, everybody is a gamer.”

Already kids are growing up with devices able to play games; the majority will take advantage of this capability at some point, across some genre – then likely continue to do so. A lot of it is to do with convenience; the best example was from a crowd poll of who has been to the movie theatre recently (not many) versus who has watched a YouTube video in the past day (quite a few.)

It’s very clear gaming is only set to grow at a rapid pace – it’s already the largest entertainment industry – and yet it’s outside trends which is helping to drive that growth.

A lot of it, of course, revolves around the shift to mobile. Now we are accessing our email on a Cloud-based service, and most likely from mobile. Trip is notably excited about the potential of the Cloud as a whole – with Facebook able to put in changes every minute without a user-facing update.

The other advantage is browsers are available just about anywhere, and on these, money is spent. It was an interesting fact that the most money spent on Facebook is by people at work.

On a slide, Trip details how much the business model has changed in the past few years. Most people involved in the industry will know this is fuelled by the “freemium” free-to-play model; monetised by in-app purchases.

Of course a man with so much gaming experience has a more comprehensive look at the model; summing it up mainly in a single quote: “It’s a game-changer because brand-power goes down.”

He goes on to say how if you’re a well-known brand such as FIFA, you are going to get into retail and stand-out. More people are willing to try a game which is free from a relatively unknown brand – whereas paid will be reserved to the well-established.

“Have you ever bought a game that’s bad – just because of the brand?” I had to put my personal hand up… that Duke Nukem remake was many gamers biggest let-down of recent years. A well-loved franchise people bought simply because of the name.

The distribution model has changed completely; with many challenges. One of the biggest hurdles to developers is from AppStore discovery – with only around 10 (mainly the top) apps being shown at any one time whilst browsing the store.

Developers need to look into the new discovery methods; Trip explains: “a third of discovery is coming from Google, a third through social links, and a third in retail.”

He has some interesting thoughts about the virtual goods economy: “At this point it’s more of an art-form rather than a science – it needs to be more of a science.”

He continues: “If you want to sell virtual goods, you need to think about what the customer needs to win.”

The TV market is an interesting space which is only set to grow; either through Smart TV’s, set-top boxes, or new games consoles such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It’s the TV’s themselves, combined with the Cloud where Trip sees the most potential – with games being able to be played in your living room on devices with low-spec.

He’s very definitive: “There will be a billion TV’s with internet access.”

Education is where Trip’s real passion came through – undoubtedly through his new London-based “If You Can” studio for games specifically for children. The gist of his idea to improve education revolves around getting kids where they are, and want to be – mainly in gaming.

The biggest complaint is kids are “stuck to their screens” which is seen as a barrier rather than an opportunity to teach through an immersive medium. On a slide, he shows four main points;

• Intrinsic – of its nature
• Autonomous – harmony with self
• Volition – power of wilful choosing
• “Learn by doing”

Many games go beyond pure interaction to actually tell a story, and in the best cases, cause an emotional attachment – mainly to involved characters. He says in these moments you remember them because of this engagement – whereas you’ll forget something your teacher once said.

One of the best examples is of “Heavy Rain”, a quantic dreams game which tells the story of a kidnapped boy and you are trying to save him – after being connected with his life. A separate story, from the same developer released recently was criticised for putting too much story over any real gameplay or interaction – getting the right mix is vital.

What do you think about Trip Hawkins’ thoughts on the game industry – in particular on education?

Trip Hawkins was speaking in the Gaming World at AppsWorld Europe 2013.