In today’s mobile age, it is hard to even think of a day without our handy mobiles. While smart devices have virtually brought the world at our fingertips, these devices are much more than a simple communication device. Nowadays, it is common to observe people playing games on their mobiles to kill their free time, for instance, while waiting in a queue, while traveling, or lounging around, to mention just a few.
Moreover, there are several mobile game applications available out there that allow one to conveniently seek a suitable game as per his taste. For instance, whether you like an action game, target-oriented game or a simple game (that aims to beat the high score every time) you can easily find a list of worthwhile options to choose from.
The mobile video game business has gained a great momentum and is only expected to further rise in the future. However, the most interesting thing to observe is the fierce competition between the console and mobile gaming. Both of them have their own upsides and downsides, and possess a huge audience base.
Some people admire gaming on the go, while others extol a dedicated gaming environment with consoles. Let’s explore the facts related to the mobile gaming to analyze how consumers’ game is leveraging mobile gaming instead of console.
1. The Mobile Game Revenue is accentuating.
The mobile game industry is incessantly blooming and will continue to grow with free, casual games.
The researches have depicted that in the year 2013, the mobile game revenue got a rise of whopping 43 percent. In 2014, it was proved that its growth is not refrained to a particular market, but both mature and emerging markets have shown a wonderful growth rate.
2. Time Spent On Games has also Increased.
Due to the fact that mobile games allow gamers to play their favorite games anytime and anywhere, a sharp increase (of around 40 percent) in the amount of time that gamers spent in the US has been observed. And, this great increase has been observed only in the last two years.
Moreover, the analytics are anticipating that the time spent will further increase in the coming future not only in the US, but also in the other parts of the world. This is so because the mobile technology is expected to further enhance.
And, the time spent on gaming will certainly convert into the money spent.
3. Tablets are becoming most preferred gaming devices.
Gone are the days when the mobile gaming realm was dominated by the smartphones. Today, the figures dictate something else. Yes! The recent data suggest that the craze for tablets as a viable gaming device is rapidly increasing. A hike of 400 percent is expected (by the year 2016) in the amount of revenue generated by the gaming applications developed for tablets.
As, tablets ensure mobility while offering larger screens and enhanced hardware that can support a wide range of games, and deliver a brilliant UX, they make a much sought after choice. However, this doesn’t mean that the mobile game revenue via smartphones will decrease, revenues are expected to increase.
4. YouTube is becoming an increasingly popular gaming channel.
With the latest mobile devices, it has become easier and convenient to access the Internet as and when desired.
Thus, it comes with no surprise that several websites are experiencing a great traffic from mobile devices. It has been observed that there are innumerable viewers (over 3.5 billion per month) who turn to YouTube to watch video games played by other players.
5. Revenue generated by mobile games is expected to surpass that by console games
Newzoo anticipate that in this year, the global console game revenues will be around $26.4 billion, while the global mobile game revenues will exceed that generated by the consoles with around $30.3 billion. This report is created by taking the worldwide gaming trends into account.
However, if only North America is considered, it is expected that the console games will attract players and hold the prime position with $11.1 billion revenues; on the contrary, mobile games are expected to drive $7.2 billion revenue. Have you ever wondered that how the inception of mobile gaming has impacted the global video gaming business? While several analytics reports suggest that mobile games will hold the reins in the future, it can’t be said that console gaming will lose their existence.
Certainly they can’t. Considering the global mobile market, there are four types of screens available to gamers. This includes TV, PC, smartphones, and tablets. Previously, PC and TV screens were dominating, but the ongoing gaming trends reflect that Smartphones and tablets are also becoming popular.
Their global usage as a gaming device could be 25% each. But, it is hard to say if the console gaming will become obsolete or not in the future.
A Glance into the Mobile Gaming Future
In order to proficiently compete with the mobile gaming market, there are many video game companies that have released portable consoles and lightweight games like Sony Vita Slim and Nintendo 3DS XL.
It can be observed that mobile application developers, including King Digital, Supercell and more, are rapidly growing, whereas, the video game publishers like Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, to name a few are facing a hard time for their existence. With this trend and myriads of gaming applications released in the application stores each day, it isn’t surprising to see that Japanese publisher and developer, has ditched the AAA games and chosen the smartphones as their platform.
Apple and Google are the two popular mobile platforms that are likely to be stacked in the list of the top five public companies (bearing the game revenues in mind). Moreover, the Apple makes the most popular video game ecosystem with the Apple App Store as the biggest platform in the mobile industry. It is at the top, as it reports 50% of the total revenues generated by the mobile games market. And, the Google Play Store stands second in this race.
It can’t be gainsaid that the capability of mobile application developers to develop and launch applications in an application store like Google Play Store and Apple App Store has offered immense flexibility and creativity to flourish. Ultimately, the ball is under the consumers’ court. The games that will hit the market and go viral upon their release completely depend upon the consumers. Consumers can offer their feedback for gaming apps on the application stores, and developers can work accordingly.
This app store ecosystem eventually facilitates developers to persistently enhance and extend their game’s functionalities with respect to the business model and gameplay. Furthermore, the wearables and the Internet of Things are also rising and becoming popular among users with each new release available in the market. With the hardware like Android Wear and Apple Watch, mobile gaming will continue to flourish. In fact, it won’t be an understatement to say that the mobile gaming industry will generate huge profits from the free games.
Reflection
Various surveys, stats and analytics reports clearly epitomize the incessantly growing graph for the mobile gaming industry. Since, mobiles have become an inevitable part of our lives most of the users often find their handy mobiles a viable gaming device.
This is certainly influencing developers and mobile gaming companies to consider the mobile platform more seriously and develop something more creative and deliver an advanced gaming experience via Smartphones and tablets. However, this doesn’t conclude that console gaming has no future.
With a variety of gamers across the globe, there will always be desired to play on game consoles. But, one thing is for sure that the next generation of game consoles has a tough competition ahead with high-end mobile gaming applications. And, to stand ahead of this competition, it has to offer something more innovative and enticing.
