Five reasons why mobile gaming is the future

 

Mobile games are often referred to by many as not being "real games" and the reasons for this are not exactly news to anyone. Poor graphics, poor storylines, terrible touch controls...you know the story. However, despite all the hate it gets, many industry experts believe that mobile gaming is on track to see massive growth in the coming years.

but how? What is different this time? Let's take a closer look at five reasons why mobile gaming has a surprisingly bright future.

1. There are more potential mobile game players than console players

Assuming a mobile game becomes popular, it could be more profitable than an equivalent console game. why? Since almost everyone in the world owns a smartphone, but game consoles like PlayStation or Xbox have to be purchased exclusively to enjoy the hobby, and therefore more expensive from the start.

The more people playing your game on mobile, the more revenue you can earn from spending players and viewing in-game ads. Although this is a high-risk investment with a high return. For every mobile game that succeeds, there are hundreds that don't.

Despite these risks, many popular console titles like League of Legends, Diablo, Apex Legends and Just Cause will soon be coming to mobile to take advantage of the growing number of mobile players. To give you some perspective, let's take a quick look at the global revenue for 2021 for some of the most popular mobile games:

Total gaming revenue in 2021

$2.8 billion from PUBG Mobile

Jinshin Impact Corporation $1.8 billion

Pokemon GO $1.2 billion

Candy Crush Saga $1.2 billion

The above apps have between 50 million to 1 billion downloads on the Google Play Store. Although downloads are a big variable, earnings earned also depend on other factors such as player retention, time spent in the game, level of play, etc.

2. Small transactions enable recurring income

Paid mobile games are often overlooked by people at first glance; It's one of the biggest reasons why mobile games are bad. As you can see, more than 90% of all apps are free, so it is normal for people to expect mobile games to be free as well. But many developers are immediately put off by the idea of ​​not getting an upfront fee for their game.

Developers who want to create a mobile game are forced to stick to the freemium model — that is, monetizing their game by getting players to purchase in-game items, such as clothing or weapons, via microtransactions. And while microtransactions has a bad rep in the gaming community, it helps developers earn recurring income, allowing for some much-needed stability.

Since console games usually come with a one-time upfront fee, the main way for a developer to earn more from their game is to find new players. As you know, finding new users is more difficult, time consuming and costly than retaining existing users. Knowing this, mobile games are a better long-term investment for developers.

3. Smartphones are becoming more and more powerful

A modern smartphone is really powerful. However, every year smartphone manufacturers outdo themselves by launching their new flagship-class flagships that carry a faster processor. In fact, the iPhone 13 and equivalent Android phones are even more powerful than the PlayStation 4! Think of all the PS4 games you can (technically) play on your phone.

As this progress continues, developers will be able to create games with better graphics and more fluid controls. And it only takes a couple of years before the exclusive power of flagship phones can be found in cheaper phones as well. This will allow for an increasingly wider user base which in turn will increase revenue.

Not to mention the rise of gaming phones. Although you do not need a gaming phone to play a high-end mobile game, there are features that feature phones do not provide. Things like a headphone jack, built-in cooling system, shoulder triggers and a dedicated game mode are very important to some gamers, especially those who play competitively.

4. 5G Developments in Mobile Games

5G is not the global standard for mobile networks yet. And while its adoption isn't going as fast as the tech giants had hoped, 5G has a lot to offer, especially in the mobile gaming industry. From faster download speeds to lower latency to shorter load times to cloud gaming, 5G will help mobile games compete with console games.

According to Ericsson, 5G is 20 times faster than 4G at its full speed and can reduce latency to just five milliseconds! This basically means that you will not experience any lag and the gameplay will be very smooth, even when playing in the cloud. In multiplayer, the game will be able to host more players on the same server without experiencing any kind of bandwidth issues.

With 5G, you will also be able to try more games before you download/purchase them. Although there are already game demos on the Play Store, they are limited to specific games. The 5G network will help expand the scope of the game demos to include more games which will increase discoverability and allow you to find the games you like faster.

5. AR and VR integration in mobile games

Besides the multiplayer experience, 5G will also improve and facilitate the integration of augmented reality and virtual reality into mobile games. VR apps are available on the Play Store at the moment, but they are not a good representation of what the technology is really capable of. That's because the power required to exploit virtual and augmented reality is something the fourth generation lacks.

If we want to enter the next era of AR and VR mobile gaming, we have to make 5G more accessible and affordable for everyone. After all, whether a mobile game becomes profitable largely depends on the number of downloads it has.

Next, we need to make VR headsets cheaper and lighter. The hefty price tag of VR headsets already appeals to many, and their bulky hardware is not ideal for long gaming sessions which can lead to headaches and dizziness for the player. Once developers solve these issues, more people will be willing to try and adopt the technology.