There’s not a person out there who owned a mobile phone in the nineties that didn’t play snake. Snake was a game that caused many of us to lose precious hours tearing our hair out as we battled to get past level 9. Those that didn’t make it were shunned from society and deemed a disgrace to the world of Nokia owners.
Today, snake has turned into an alien space creature that must sabotage his teammates, without them finding out it’s him. Yes, it seems that we have gone full circle in the evolution of the mobile gaming world. What started off with the most basic of games pre-installed on a phone in black and white and with just two buttons to use, has evolved into complex action games, only to lead back to a basic game of social deduction.
Trends aside, mobile technology has come a long way over the past decade, in which smartphone gaming revenue was valued at 63 billion US Dollars worldwide in 2020. While the average time people spent on their phones in 2014 was 152 minutes, this is also increasing with the average time rising to 234 minutes this year. It’s clear that as technology advances, we’re spending much more time and money on playing games on our phones.
With such a rapid rise in usage and technological developments, what can we expect for the future of mobile gaming. Will we ever go back to Snake? Will people continue playing Crossy Road? Does the uptake of ‘Among Us’ indicate a future trend? Let’s take a look at some of the technological developments we can expect to see over the next few years to answer some of these questions.
The rise of 5G
The adoption of 5G technologymeans that the gaming industry is on the brink of great change as advancements in broadband cellular network technology offer infinite possibilities for gaming developers.
Amongst some of the most significant changes that 5G will bring includes improved latency as speeds increase to 10 Gbps – that’s 10 times faster than 4G technology. This improved reliability and enhanced gaming experience will most likely mean an even larger uptake in mobile gamers as more people swap their laptops and Nintendo Switch for their smartphone.
In addition, we will see improvements in live streaming and download speeds. No longer will we have to sit and stare at that excruciating loading circle as we wait for apps to download. The improvements to streaming speeds will also mean more people are likely to choose to become members of streaming platforms over buying and downloading individual copies.
Improved Hardware
Technology has advanced and games offer a significantly improved user experience, but with these improvements comes the requirement for extra storage. While smartphones are beginning to become available with larger storage facilities, these are often offered at a premium cost, meaning that they’re out of reach for the majority of smartphone users.
Until smartphones with larger storage capacity become more widely available with a lower barrier to entry, it seems that the uptake of newer mobile gaming technology could be slow.
In addition, smartphones will need to have significantly evolved battery life as more people begin to spend longer hours on their phones.
Developers are now also looking into ways to add more advanced controller buttons onto the smartphone interface in order to offer an enhanced gaming experience. Another option could be that we will be able to sync up gaming controllers with mobile devices, however this would contradict the ‘mobile’ aspect which has made this type of gaming so popular.
A rise in more traditional games being played
Among mobile gaming advancements has been the rise in the phenomenon that is social gaming. Social gaming encompasses games that have added features which allow for more engagement between players. Such features include multiplayer mode, leadership boards, rewards and public stats that further motivate players to get to a higher level.
In reaction to this shift in target audience, casino game developers are offering real money casino games that you can play on a mobile device, while trying to incorporate newer technologies into the gaming platforms in order to appeal to more and more people. Some of the ways they are doing this include movie themed slot games, live poker dealers and games that work with Virtual Reality technology.
Big franchises are down-sizing
As mobile phones begin to show huge potential in terms of what they can handle, with improved processors and far better graphics, it’s only inevitable that big gaming franchises will shift their focus to offering mobile versions of their games.
Think Call of Duty, Fifa and even the Sims. Games that we currently couldn’t imagine playing on a mobile screen as usability just doesn’t cater to player needs quite yet, will be transformed into a mobile first approach.
Overall, the rate that mobile gaming is significant. It seems that the drive in mobile gaming advancements is coming from smartphone developers as their advancements in processing, graphics and, storage and battery power make way for far more advanced games on mobile devices.
That being said, as mobile technology increases, the bar of entry keeps creeping higher and higher, outpricing many who would have used this technology. So while there is a lot in store for the mobile gaming industry over the next few years, just how many will adopt it is a question yet to be answered.