Stride Post Latest News
Related Articles
From addictive brainteasing games like Tetris to real-time strategy games such as Clash Royale and PUBG mobile, the mobile gaming industry has definitely come a long way!
Mobile manufacturers have been progressively building overpowered smartphones for the last decade. As a result, the mobile gaming community is now larger than both console and PC gaming communities combined.
This article will cover a brief history of mobile gaming and how it became a $100+ billion market. Furthermore, it will cover the latest mobile game development practices and the five hottest trends in the mobile gaming industry.
A Brief History of Mobile Gaming
Most people don’t even know the name of the first-ever mobile game. And if you’re thinking of that Snake game, you are wrong too.
The first mobile game, Tetris, was launched in 1994. Three years later, Nokia capitalized on the opportunity and introduced Snake X in the world of mobile gaming. Snake X became an instant hit and laid the foundations of this billion-dollar industry.
Snake X introduced the hyper-causal genre in the mobile gaming industry. The smooth gameplay and intuitive design captivated thousands of people and became popular among both children and adults.
Games like Space Invaders followed the legacy of their predecessors and kept people enthralled for years. However, the mobile gaming industry took a big turn after the successful launch of iPhones! Poker games became popular among adults, and people started taking mobile gaming seriously.
2012 & the New Dawn of Mobile Gaming
2012 was the year a new era of mobile gaming was born. Games like Clash of Clans and Candy Crush entered and completely transformed the mobile gaming industry. Mobile game development companies started making huge profits, and the competition increased. People started spending money on luxurious items like special characters, skins, and several other in-app purchases.
The technology evolved, and so did the mobile gaming industry. AR games like Pokemon Go came into action and captured a significant market share. However, battle royale and strategy games have entertained the audience for the last few years.
Simply put, the mobile gaming industry is at its prime. Gaming franchises, sponsors, developers, and players are making substantial money from mobile games.
Modern-Day Mobile Game Development Practices
As the mobile gaming market grew unprecedently, the competition became ferocious. Thousands of mobile games make their way to their respective stores. However, most of them fail even to break even.
Most indie game developers and even game development companies invest heavily in game development but fail miserably. Conversely, gaming franchises like Supercell, Tencent, etc., follow a particular set of predefined steps and strategies to ensure the success of their mobile games.
Here’s a complete breakdown of modern game development practices of successful gaming franchises:
An Out-of-the-Box Idea
Every successful game starts with a fascinating idea. Game development companies like Supercell focus a lot on the idea. They don’t start building the game if they feel their idea isn’t something out-of-the-box and extraordinary.
If you are genuinely passionate about making a name in the mobile gaming industry, come up with something exceptional. And it doesn’t have to be totally unique! You can take inspiration from other popular games too. But don’t invest in it unless you feel it has the potential to become the next big thing in the market.
An Enthralling Story
Successful games revolve around intriguing stories. Following the story, a gaming franchise can add new characters to the arc and even build new games around it.
If you think your gaming idea is spectacular, try to connect it with a story and forge an emotional connection. This way, you will be able to keep players intrigued for a long.
Strategy & Monetization
The third crucial phase is to devise a game development strategy and create a roadmap for the game. In this phase, game development companies set up their budgets and finalize their technology stacks and game development platforms. Moreover, they create a marketing plan and a strong monetization strategy for the game.
Most games fail due to a lack of a marketing plan or improper monetization strategy. Make sure you research if you want your game to be in the market for a long.
Building an MVP
Building a mobile game is much more expensive than getting than building a website or a mobile app. Therefore it’s crucial to build a minimum viable product (MVP) first and test the water before spending all your budget on the final product.
MVP testing is a standard procedure among mobile gaming giants like Supercell and Tencent. Since their games require substantial investments, they prefer cross-checking everything before starting the design and development of their mobile game.
Game Development
Once your MVP is tested successfully, the last step is to initiate the development process. The game development includes everything from designing the user interface and game screens to setting up backend functionalities and character features.
The development part can take between 4 – 12 months and sometimes even more. It’s directly proportional to the number of characters and functionalities involved in the game. Once the final product is tested for bugs and errors, it’s ready for deployment.
Remember, making money is secondary! Your goal should be to build a loyal community of gamers to work as advocates for your game. And you can’t just hire freelance app developers in Los Angeles or wherever you live and expect your game to be perfect. You need to consult multiple game development companies and plan everything before starting your project.
Stats for the Mobile Games Industry
Another milestone is about to be reached in the mobile gaming industry. This year, it’s expected to surpass $100 billion, or $103.5 billion. According to this, mobile games will account for more than half of all gaming revenue in 2022.
For instance, The Business Research Company estimates that the global recorded music market generated $57.05 billion in wholesale sales over the same year. In other words, the annual revenue from mobile gaming alone exceeds that of the combined music and film industries.
Here are some facts about the mobile gaming market:
- The year 2021 will be remembered for its 82.98 billion game downloads.
- 57% of gaming revenue comes from mobile games.
- The largest and fastest-growing geographic market for mobile gaming is in Asia Pacific.
- From 19.6% to 13.2%, Google Play revenue is now growing faster than iOS App Store revenue.
- Games make up 21% of downloaded Android applications and 25% of downloaded iOS apps.
Games For Mobile Market
What is the most well-liked gaming genre for smartphones? According to a study, hyper-casual games accounted for nearly 3.5 billion downloads worldwide in the third quarter of 2021, making them the most popular category. The most common game types, when considering the entire genre, were puzzle, simulation, and action games.
The top 10 downloaded mobile games of 2021 are shown below:
- Challenge Hair (Rollic)
- DIY Phone Case (Crazy Labs)
- Having a Ball (Supersonic)
- DOP 2: Remove One Section (SayGames)
- Sculpted figures (Crazy Labs)
- “Bridge Race” (Supersonic)
- the Masters (Ascella Mobile)
- In heels (Zynga)
- Dash, Stacky (Supersonic)
- I Talk to Angela 2 (Outfit7)
Wrapping Up…
Thousands of mobile games get deployed on game stores every month, but hardly 3 -5 games manage to top the ranking chart. Make sure you follow this guide if you have a fantastic game idea and a passion for converting it into a successful mobile game.
The key is to plan the monetization before starting the development process. Figure out how your game will reap benefits and implement the strategy to ensure your game stays longer in the market.
