Tracing the Past, Charting the Future of Mobile Gaming

Smartphones are nowadays an essential component of practically everyone’s daily lives. People no longer carry cash and instead use their phones to pay for basic necessities such as food and vegetables.

Speaking to people has never been simpler, no matter how far away you are. With a few taps on your phone, you can talk to your buddies at any time. You’re hungry but don’t want to go out? Simply order meals on your phone and have them delivered to your door.

How can we leave out entertainment when our phones now have access to every area of our lives? Movies, photos, games, and other forms of entertainment are all possible. The primary topic of this blog will be smartphone gaming.

• Table of Contents

  Toggle

  History

Tetris for the Hagenuk MT-2000 was the first game ever made for a mobile device. However, it wasn’t until Snake, which was introduced in 1997 for the Nokia 6610, that mobile gaming truly started to take off. It continues to receive a lot of love. Games evolved along with technology. A technical standard called the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) was created to make it possible for mobile devices to connect to the internet. Simple multiplayer board games like tic-tac-toe or Connect 4 were viable and enjoyable, despite the fact that people couldn’t truly benefit from internet browsing or playing these kinds of challenging games. One of the games that was popular in the 2000s was Alien Fish Exchange. It was simple to join since you could breed alien fish. However, you could trade and sell fish using WAP technology to other players or, in the worst-case scenario, the in-game restaurants (painful!). But in 2001, mobile gaming had a watershed moment when the hugely well-liked arcade game Space Invaders was made available for handheld devices. Despite being in monochrome, the enjoyment persisted. After two years, color mobile phones started to proliferate. As technology advanced, major publishers like EA began to make investments in mobile games. Gameloft’s Asphalt GT was one of the most popular releases of 2004. In that year, more racing games were created, making it one of the most popular game genres for mobile devices.

When Apple debuted its touchscreen iPhone in 2007, the mobile gaming industry saw its next major upheaval. With the introduction of its AppStore in 2008, developers now have a place to offer their games to clients without having to pay cell operators or publishers a commission. Beyond just games, the iPhone and App Store forced the majority of other smartphone makers to give up on their own initiatives to create a more complex smartphone ecosystem, including BlackBerry and Symbian. Although BlackBerry tried to launch its own app store, it was not as successful as Apple’s. The Android-based handsets (based on the Java language), utilizing the operating system that had been developed by Google, and Windows Phone by Microsoft were the only two significant rivals left following the release of the iPhone. Google Play and the Windows Phone Store both adopted Apple’s strategy and launched app shops. After Microsoft stopped actively developing Windows Phone, iOS, and Android became the dominant players in the market for mobile operating systems and app stores.

• The Evolution

Before the debut 2008 of the App Store, many mobile phones could only access a few browser-based games over WAP. Later, users could download new apps that they could buy from their wireless carrier or a distributor to use on their phones. However, access to this primitive form of the internet was severely constrained, which made it difficult to find games. Additionally, there were many different technologies accessible in terms of both hardware and software, therefore games were frequently restricted to specific devices.

However, with the introduction of Apple’s AppStore in 2008, mobile gaming gained popularity as a result of games being consolidated in a single location. In 2008, the majority of mobile games were purchased in a single transaction, similar to how consoles worked. However, this had two significant drawbacks: the games were inevitably smaller in scope than their console equivalents (since they were designed for the phone) and the market for mobile gaming was still quite small.

• The Future

Mobile gaming has generated a lot of interest from businesses in recent years as they seek to expand their clientele and boost earnings. Pokémon Go has made $2.3 billion in sales since its release, and Fortnite has accumulated about 250 million users. The first significant investments in mobile gaming likely came from people who already had a stake in the sector in an effort to emulate such success. Boom Fantasy raised $2 million from ESPN and the MLB, Supercell gaming giant invested $5 million in mobile game developer Redemption Games, Tencent invested $90 million in Pocket Gems, and Gamelynx raised $1.2 million from a number of investors. 

Another technology that has already proven to be incredibly well-suited for mobile devices is augmented reality (AR). The interactions required by augmented reality work best on mobile devices. This is due to the tremendous hardware advancements made over the past ten years, as well as better camera and internet access. Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, EE, Globe Telecom, Orange, SK Telecom, SoftBank Corp., and TELUS have joined Niantic’s Planet-Scale AR Alliance, which aims to produce “amazing real-world AR experiences that demonstrate the possibilities of 5G.” Despite being around for a while, Pokémon Go has partnered with well-known businesses like Starbucks. It appears to only portend a time when augmented reality will be able to add a whole new dimension to our current experience.

Particularly in areas like Asia Pacific (APAC), where mobile phones are the most widely available gaming devices, the popularity of mobile gaming is projected to soar. The area had 1.62 billion gamers by the end of 2021, up from 1.2 billion in 2019, or 55% of all players globally. In this area, there is an increase in technology literacy as well as better internet accessibility and infrastructure. Numerous popular games in the area, such as PUBG Mobile and Free Fire, have established international best practices for in-game social elements like friend lists, leaderboards, and PvP modes. In 2021, it was predicted that APAC players would have spent $57.9 billion on mobile gaming. Players in the mobile gaming sector should undoubtedly keep a close eye on this market.