For many of us, Snake will be our first interaction with mobile gaming. Installed as standard on most Nokia mobile phones from the late 1990s onwards, it may have been simple but it became a massive hit, and it laid the groundwork for what is now a $200 billion-a-year market.
Mobile gaming might be derided as the low-quality alternative to PC and even console gaming, but it is not only here to stay but continues to post massive gains every year. Mobile devices are ubiquitous while the games on offer are both diverse and typically a lot cheaper than a AAA title on serious gaming platforms.
Below, we look at 8 of the reasons mobile gaming has seen such a boon in popularity over recent years.
Huge Variety Of Games
Turn on a console and it can feel like you’re limited to a choice of first-person shooters or football games. In truth, there are way more genres than that available, but the significant cost of making a AAA title for a PC or console means that the more obscure game ideas don’t get made as often.
On mobile, you will find a diverse range of games from daily word puzzles that have taken the world by storm, to online casino games like slots that combine iGaming with something we all love – freebies. Players can access a wide range of popular slots on a mobile device and enjoy free spins offers when they make a deposit, or simply join the site.
Convenience
Most people own a cell phone, and most of those cell phones are smartphones that offer access to mobile games. The fact that people have their cell phones on them all the time means that games can be accessed while watching TV, commuting to and from work, or even sitting in the bar waiting for friends. And, there are a lot of casual games that don’t require any major time commitment.
Many games can be downloaded and installed in a few minutes, too, and some can be played offline. This convenience has seen many people who wouldn’t usually consider themselves gamers picking up a phone to play a few games. It also makes mobile games a good option for serious gamers when they can’t get to their usual gaming rig.
Social Options
First and foremost, cell phones are used as a means of communication, whether that’s through voice and video calls, instant messaging, or apps. And, this is also a reason why mobile games have become so popular. Players don’t have to play in an isolated bubble. Most games offer rewards or boosts for connecting with friends over social media or via their phone contacts.
For the game publisher, it means greater publicity and reach, and they also know that players who are connected to other players are more likely to return. For the gamer, it means quicker leveling up or access to new levels.
It also introduces a competitive element, typically even to games that we wouldn’t ordinarily think of as having a competitive element. Single-player puzzle games can have leaderboards, timed challenges, and multiplayer challenges that encourage friends to play against one another, for example.
Affordability
AAA titles on PC and console cost around $80, which is a lot of money to sink into a game that you’ve likely not even played. Prices vary for mobile games, but as well as those that cost around $10, at the higher end of the price range, some of the most popular mobile games of all time are free to play.
Honor of Kings is widely considered the most downloaded mobile game in the world and it is a free-to-play title, although players can buy additional skins and other items. Another extremely popular title that is also free to play is Candy Crush Saga and these aren’t one-offs. Many mobile games are free to play, supported by in-game advertising or in-app purchases, which makes them easy to install.
Improved Mobile Connections
While a lot of games can be played offline, after downloading them, the most popular do have at least some elements of online play. Poor Internet connections can hamper the enjoyment of online games, but with the introduction and advance of 5G technology, these games have not only become quicker to download, but they have also become more easily accessible even when outside the home.
5G is expected to keep growing, with even some of the most remote areas of the world getting access, and this will see player numbers increase further. Public WiFi access is also increasingly common in cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels, and even in public transport, ensuring that mobile gamers can always access their games no matter where they want to play.
Greater Access To Capable Hardware
It isn’t just the infrastructure that has improved, either. Cell phones themselves have become more affordable, and even some of the lowest-cost smartphone models are perfectly capable of playing casual games. More expensive phones indeed tend to offer improved displays, and those with larger screens are more comfortable on the eyes, but players don’t have to spend a fortune to be able to play even the most recent mobile titles.
When compared to buying a gaming PC or the latest generation console, the cost of a cheap cell phone is significantly lower, especially considering most people own a phone anyway.
Innovation In Design
Game designers and hardware designers are enjoying the benefits of what has become a $200 billion market, too. They have more money to spend on development, and this has a positive knock-on effect on individual gamers. Not all these innovations work out, of course. VR and 3D gaming on mobile phones never really took off, but there’s now a good selection of mobile controllers that effectively turn mobile phones into portable handheld gaming devices.
Pokemon GO! Showed the world what augmented reality could do for gaming, and more and more developers are porting their AAA titles to mobile devices, too. VR mobile gaming may not have had its day yet, but there’s nothing to say this innovation won’t come back around and take the mobile gaming world by storm in the future, either.
Competitive Gaming
Esports is the commercial, competitive arm of the gaming world. Games like DOTA, Counter-Strike, and Call Of Duty enjoy massive esports competitions with huge prizes. These tournaments draw large crowds and undoubtedly help sell copies of the games and the machines they run on. Although competitive mobile gaming isn’t as popular yet, you can find tournaments for games like PUBG Mobile and Counter-Strike: Source.
Even if gamers don’t take part in the tournaments themselves, their existence and their growing popularity have helped put mobile gaming on the map for casual and hardcore gamers alike.