The mobile games industry continues to grow at a rapid pace and is worth over $30 billion. Players continue to choose gaming on their smartphones and tablets over playing games on PC or consoles. Browser-based games and games played through Facebook have also been affected by the rise.
More and more mobile gaming startups are cropping up each day, producing games that demand attention. There seems to be no stopping the sector’s success. But what has brought this focus on video games?
Why Are Mobile Gaming Startups Succeeding?
Unlike traditional gaming experiences on PC or consoles, mobile gaming is far more accessible to players. Players are able to learn how to play mobile games quickly and play them in short bursts, perhaps on the daily commute to work or as they’re waiting for an appointment.
Although smartphones and tablets are not cheap, for many people they are a necessity and they do not require players to spend additional money on a new piece of technology in order to gain access to the games. Billions of people around the world are mobile gamers – or potential mobile gamers – because they already own a mobile device.
Moreover, many mobile gaming startups are doing something new, fresh, and innovative that mobile gamers just can’t get with PC and console experiences.
These include startups such as Niantic, the developer behind Pokemon GO and Ingress. These Niantic games use real-world locations as the map for the game, giving players an incentive for exploring their world and interacting with the things around them through GPS and AR. Niantic initially began as an internal startup within Google before being spun off into a fully fledged company and now Pokemon GO alone has made over $1.2 billion in revenue.
There’s also Supercell, the Finnish developer behind the competitive mobile titles Clash of Clans and Clash Royale. Founded in 2010, the company is now worth an estimated $10.2 billion which is a long way from Supercell’s humble, startup beginnings.
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Is There Any Stopping Mobile Gaming?
It looks as though there is no stopping the mobile gaming juggernaut. As players continue to feel the pinch and find that they can no longer afford consoles and their highly-priced games, mobile gaming will continue to be of interest to players.
Mobile technology also continues to improve, allowing these mobile gaming startups to keep on releasing bigger and better games that are even more entertaining to play.
Many more players are turning away from Facebook gaming too – and Facebook was once thought to be a direct threat to mobile gaming’s success. Facebook may have over two billion users, but the social media site makes far less of revenue from games and in-game purchases than you may expect. And this revenue is dropping as people opt to play mobile games instead, according to Reuters.
Which Mobile Gaming Startups Will Be Next?
The beauty of the industry is that there’s no guessing which mobile gaming startup will be the next big success story. Developers can get into the sector easily, without the huge production values or marketing budget of a major PC or console release.
So while games like Pokemon GO and Clash Royale are hugely popular today, come next week, next month, or next year, the list of the biggest gaming startups could look completely different.