At the turn of the new millennium, the capabilities and capacities of the early mobile gaming market were nothing if not underestimated. Partly, this was due to the generally low processing power of the devices at the time, but also contributing was the simple lack of supporting market infrastructure. Since the advent and popularization of smartphones, however, this market has grown from negligible to considerable market force.
Now worth billions of dollars annually, we take a look at the most influential forms of games of this market, to examine exactly what it was which drove their popularity to the level of today.
Gaming, iGaming, and Gambling
While major traditional gaming developers were hesitant to invest in the early days of the market, the casino market had no such doubt. Already one of the earlier investors in the world of PC online gaming, online casinos saw the opportunities which this new market would represent and were one of the major forces to not only prove the viability of the platform but to popularize it for more traditional developers.
Especially popular here was online slots. Not only did these scale easily to the different processing capabilities of early devices, but their capacities for huge jackpots also wins gave an undeniable allure. These also benefited from the simplicity of their displays, fitting perfectly to the devices screens, and offering some of the most diverse themes and bonuses to keep players continually engaged.
Simplicity of Design
One of the biggest ever game series which came from the mobile world is that of Angry Birds. While not original in its design, having borrowed wholesale from earlier Flash efforts like Crush the Castle, these saw success in their suitability above all else. The game field fit the horizontal display of a mobile device perfectly, the few controls meant that touch-screens were not a hindrance, and the hilarious characters made it appealing for players of all ages.
“Angry Birds at Game Design Expo 2011” (CC BY 2.0) by vancouverfilmschool
One of the most endearing games to the level where it received an enormous quantity of multimedia adaptions, and one of the strongest legacies in mobile gaming history.
Stepping Forward
By the time that the mobile gaming market had taken off, player’s had really begun to understand and get a feel for what this now cornerstone of gaming could offer. This led the way to games which were not only magnitudes more complex in terms of general gameplay but also games which had a heavy and active multiplayer component.
“Clash of Clans 3” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Themeplus
Chief among these, and still champion to this day, is the much-celebrated Clash of Clans. Currently earning around a billion dollars in revenue a year, this has not only became a household name, but it also made great strides in almost singlehandedly inventing a new genre of mobile dedicated strategy games.
And Into The Future
The next step in mobile gaming looks to be one of greater homogenization with traditional gaming media. We can see this in the major gaming developers like EA getting on board, and with the most currently popular game in the world, Fortnite, now receiving dedicated mobile ports. While, in the future, this will inevitably extend to the recent development of VR and AR gaming, the current market is already one of unpredicted growth, quality, and diversity.
“Fortnite Screenshot 2018.06.05 – 19.14.0” (CC BY 2.0) by Whelsko
Mobile gaming is only going to get bigger, and it is these three contributors which will forever be cemented as the stepping stones to the modern mobile gaming world.
