My first thought is that paintball, for the most part, will be a lot like it is today. During the first two decades of paintball's existence (the 1980s and '90s) there were substantial changes in the equipment, the playing style, the manufacturers and the mentality of what the sport was supposed to be. In the past decade, though, the game really hasn't developed that much. Sure, the equipment has improved and the cost of electros and paintballs has dropped, but the basic paintball experience is much what it was ten years ago.
I imagine that the lines between committed speedballers and woodsballers will be just as pronounced as they are today and I seriously doubt there will be any sort of coming-together between the two sides in terms of a common format to play. People will still be drawn to one form or the other and, for the most part, stick with that style of play.
I'd like to hope that more people will play the game in general, but I'm not convinced that will be the case. It seems that for every new paintball player, an older player quits playing. I expect there to be a larger percentage of people who will have played paintball, but not more that are currently playing.
I do have one, slightly odd prediction. I bet that within a decade there will be a paintball gun that doesn't require a compressed air or CO2 tank (or even a propane tank). Whether it shoots by having a built-in, battery-powered compressor (something rumored to be in the works a few years ago) or being powered by springs or by pumping I won't speculate on, but I bet something will come out. I doubt anything like that will become mainstream, but it will give some variety to the sport.
I really don't know what's going to happen and my speculations surely reflect that. My general theory that it won't change might be based more on a hope that it won't rather than a true belief. There's always the possibility that government regulations will hit the sport hard or that manufacturers simply go out of business, or a new variation of the sport will become hugely popular, but I really hope it stays how it's been during this past decade. For all of its ups and downs, paintball is still about the best way to spend a summer morning with friends.
