By Zachary Fingerle
While many “hardcore” gamers continue to scoff and laugh at mobile games, mobile games are king in terms of revenue generated. The idea of Free-to-play games has been around for ages, it works its magic best for mobile games. Using in-app purchases to enhance the experience and unlock more content with money. According to Statista, there are over 147 million mobile gaming users in the U.S. and they generated around $10.73 BILLION in revenue! Now that the numbers continue to disprove the scoffs and ignorance of “hardcore” gamers, let’s talk about the past and future of mobile gaming.
The list of mobile games that are getting serious attention and larger player bases is continually growing. Although, in the last year, the scene seems to be shifting towards AAA games getting mobile game versions instead of new titles exclusively for mobile.
The titans of the mobile gaming industry have been around for a while and established their pro leagues and gained a solid foothold. The Loadout compiled a list of the 2019 mobile esports watch time and Arena of Valor, PUBG Mobile, and Free Fire hold the top three slots, with Arena of Valor having 72,248,735 hours watched.
While these games have been the popular mobile games for simply playing and esports alike, the slew of recent announcements will likely shift the scene a lot over the next few years. Rocket League SideSwipe, League of Legends Wild Rift, and the most recent announcement of Apex Legends Mobile are the newest games to be receiving mobile versions of their bigger brother counterparts. There has not yet been a mention of an esports scene being developed for Apex Legends Mobile, but Riot Games has announced a plan to support Wild Rift Esports worldwide.
Gaming on the move has also changed a lot through the use of cloud gaming services such as Google Stadia and the upcoming Amazon Luna. While Google has opted to shut down their in-house production of Stadia exclusive games leading to a cry from fans that it is on its way out. Although that is simply not true, third-party games will still be making their way to the Stadia service and Amazon’s Luna is still in early access currently.
While cloud gaming services such as these and GeForce Now are still far from being held in the competitive light due to server interactions and overall performance not being as solid as simply playing the game on a hard system such as a console or PC with the game downloaded directly to it. There is still light at the end of the tunnel for these services and people want to see them flourish but there is still much doubt in the world.
