Mobile was once bottom of the serious gaming hierarchy, but not any more.
Traditionally PC and games consoles were the main area when a new game was released, however this has been changing for a few years now; with more focus being spent on the newly lucrative market of mobile gaming.
Mobile was also at the bottom of the hierarchy in gaming but that is no longer the case. Developers are now seeing the value in dedicating resources to designing games optimised for mobile gaming. Mobile devices are developing a lot quicker now than their console counterparts and shorter gaps are seen between updates and new models of the devices.
Mobile gaming has been around for a few years now and began to overtake PC gaming in terms of revenue between 2014 and 2015 and has just continued to grow since and is now becoming an undeniable front runner in the market.
Latest figures have shown that in 2017 there were 2.2 billion gamers worldwide, generating approximately $109 billion in games revenue. From this digital games revenue makes up 87% of the global market, which is around $94 billion. The mobile is worth around $46 billion, which is about 42% of the market.
It is surprising given that mobile gamers are generally a lot more casual than the often dedicated PC or console gamers, that there is seeming to be a lot more support now within the realms of mobile gaming and new titles appearing more often on this platform than any other.
Mobile gaming is currently most popular within East Asia, in Korea, Japan and China, who between them have 224 million mobile gamers, with the majority of the users between 20 and 35. The market is biggest in China is a current worth an astounding $14.6billio
It is a pretty safe bet to assume that mobile gaming growth is going to continue, but with the potential now for aspects such as virtual reality it would appear that the sky is the limit. It is likely virtual reality will feature increasingly within mobile gaming, alongside augmented reality, which creates an atmosphere that is immersive and occupies all the senses. 2018 is going to continue to see further growth and likely even more innovative approaches from developers which is good news for all gamers.
This increasingly dominant trend in the marketplace has been underlined by others in the industry like online casino operators and brands having their entire service available via virtually any mobile device. PartyCasino is an online brand that immediately springs to mind. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find specific companies focussing predominately on their mobile platform and even offering specific promotions targeting mobile audiences.
In light of this it would be prudent for any company who is ambitious and wants to stay one step ahead of the competition, to keep abreast of mobile developments and include it in all aspects of the business.
