Google has launched a new digital platform called Stadia, which allows users to stream and play high-quality games anywhere. Doing away with the need of a physical console, Google is seeking to move the current e-gaming trend to a spectator sport, promoting seamless viewer participation.

Best known for its vibrant settings and gratuitous violence, Grand Theft Auto V has been given a new lease on life online. A single mod has turned it into a community-led RPG that has as many spectators as it does players, demonstrating how open gaming worlds can foster large-scale collaboration.

Snapchat, the most popular social media app among young Westerners, has debuted an in-app feature for users to play games with friends. The desire for familiarity in technology runs parallel with smartphone users’ limiting the number of apps they use; creating a demand for all-in-one interfaces.

Boasting over 45 million players and the Twitch record for most live viewers on a stream, third-person shooter Fortnite Battle Royale has taken the gaming world by storm. But given that it uses a free-to-play model, how is it avoiding the controversy that often surrounds in-game microtransactions?