Whilst the gaming sector is growing at an incredible rate alongside technological developments, in recent years, the mobile gaming industry has powered the growth of the industry more than any other stream of gaming. Statistics indicate that the mobile gaming market earned around $68.5 billion in 2019 with 35.8% of that coming from Android. The rise in popularity of on the go gaming can be attributed to a number of factors that enable consumers to access gaming whilst dealing with busy modern life; from being able to play from the comfort of your own home, to better deals and lower costs on online forms of games, enhanced creativity and not to mention, the sense of community that online platforms provide.
Below we’ll look into how the use of mobiles and tablets will affect the future of the gaming industry and explore what types of games are available to consumers as on the go experiences.
The growth of virtual gaming
In the past year, on the go gaming has grown to incorporate over 1.36 billion consumers globally. What’s more the percentage of users who play on the go games is expected to rise up to 22.5% by 2024. So what are the demographics of the people participating in on the go gaming and why is it becoming so popular?
Statistics indicate that the most popular age category to engage in online gaming is those between the ages of 25 and 36. These statistics indicate that whilst traditional games are now available online such as classic board game favorites, Scrabble and Monopoly and the traditional game of bingo which are much loved by the older generations, there is a lack of access to the required technology for online gaming amongst the older age groups. In fact, research shows that only 4 in 10 seniors own a smart phone and whilst 80% of seniors aged 65 and over own a mobile phone, their device is not capable of accessing on the go games. These statistics indicate that there is a potential market for on the go gaming that has not yet been tapped into, however this could change as more and more older generations become familiar with available technology.
In terms of geographical location, consumer research indicates that China was the biggest market for online gaming in 2019, generating $18 billion in revenue. The US followed shortly behind this was a gross revenue of $9.9 billion and Japan shortly after, with a revenue of $6.5 billion. This data indicates that it is mainly countries that are rapidly developing as technological hotspots and countries that are considered highly economically developed that are benefiting from on the go gaming.
Statistics show that the younger generation are playing more mobile games than the older generation.
What types of games can be accessed via on the go devices?
Whilst many of us will remember the days where other members of your household had to put the phone down in order for you to reconnect to your game that was using the internet, today youth are not aware of such limits to gaming and would probably not believe it if you told them.
PC and Console Games
The fact of the matter is that today’s youth have access to almost any type of game, at the press of a button or even at the command of Alexa or Siri. Games that once had to be played on the likes of a PlayStation or Xbox are now readily available on smartphone apps and over mobile browsers. One of the best examples is the popular PC and console game – Minecraft. Referred to as the pocket edition, the mobile version of Minecraft enables users to access all of the game great features as the PC and console version. This has some significant advantages as rather than having to be glued to the television or PC screen, players can now access the game on the go and from any location, whether that is on the train to work or whilst waiting in a queue at the supermarket! One of the only drawbacks is that game updates tend to come much later for mobile users than they do for PC and console users. That being said, being able to access console games on your mobile mainly outweighs this drawback.
Traditional Casino Games
In addition to the much-loved PC and console games, some of the most popular games to now be played on mobile devices come from the gambling industry. Casino games, slot games and mobile bingo have contributed to mobile’s gaming growth with more people now accessing these games via a handheld device. Mobile bingo is one of the most popular games to now be accessed by mobile devices, in which consumer activity online has helped to make the once traditional game incredibly popular in todays market and have skyrocketed overall gaming revenues.
Some of the reasons for the popularity of mobile bingo include the convenience of being able to play anywhere and at any time. In addition, as more and more online bingo providers have popped up, competition has become rife. This has meant that providers have needed to come up with new and continual ways of enticing new customers and retaining current ones through the use of free trials, sign-up bonuses, mini bonus games and increasingly large jackpots.
The gambling industry has also contributed to the success of mobile gaming, with more players signing up for sites such as online bingo.
The future of online gaming
Overall, statistics have indicated that the mobile gaming industry is set to grow at a rate of 2.9% annually, indicating that there is a significant amount of developments to come. These developments could mean the introduction of even more types of traditional games that become available on mobile devices, as well as the continual improvement of games that have already gone mobile. Whilst the nostalgia of PC and console games may never be lost on us, there’s no denying that the development of on the go games has made it that much easier for us all to get our daily entertainment fix.