Whenever people are passionate about something, there will be debate as to the best way to go about it, and this is as true with video gaming as it is with everything else. While some swear by a fully kitted-out gaming rig with everything they need on hand, others want to be able to game while they’re out and about, and, of course, there are plenty who choose both.
Phones have been a popular gaming tool since their early days, and the very first game to come pre-installed on a phone was Tetris, on the Hagenuk MT-20 in 1994. This groundbreaking game paved the way for iconic games such as Snake which took the world by storm a few years later when the Nokia 6110 first brought this hugely popular game to the waiting world, creating the most-played video game of all time.
As mobile coverage became more widespread and mobile phone ownership increased dramatically, the idea of mobile gaming turned into one of the fastest-growing industries of the 21st century. With games studios turning out more and more high-quality games, the mobile gaming space has grown to accommodate thousands of new users every day, with more than two billion gamers in the world today.
The popularity of phone gaming
From the early days of Snake to the latest releases, video gaming has become an integral part of many people’s phone use, and the signs all suggest that this will continue for some time. With increasing internet connectivity and phone service availability, more and more people are using mobile phones regularly.
While video gaming as a genre has gone from a niche activity to a mainstream pastime, gaming is so popular that gaming trends have made national and even international headlines. When ‘Untitled Goose Game’ was released in 2019, it caught the attention of so many people and had so much positive feedback that it took the world by storm, and after a million in sales in the first month after its release, the next step was to make a mobile-friendly version.
This has been evident in the mobile gaming market as well, with games designers coming up with ways to make games more mobile-friendly for players that are likely to be out and about. From simplified menus to shorter game times and easier controls, games designed for the mobile market are popular among gamers and many have a gaming-ready phone as well as a rig at home, a designated laptop, and one or more consoles.
The phone industry’s response
The market for mobile gaming has been so successful for so long now, that phone designers and manufacturers are bringing phones to market that are specifically aimed at gamers. These phones have high-def screens that can do justice to the incredible graphics of modern games, and high refresh rates to ensure that players don’t miss a millisecond of the action.
Gamers appreciate extra long battery life on a phone that can handle games that can be very power-hungry, and good performance is a must to run some of the most intricate games around. There are some phones that have proved popular among gamers even though they weren’t specifically designed for that market, simply because they offer the features that gamers value.
However, the phones that have been designed for the gaming market have really embraced what gamers want. Some have in-built trigger buttons to make it even easier to beat some of the most popular games; others have special cooling mechanisms to enable players to keep going for longer without worrying that their phone will overheat.
Gamers have become such a viable market that phone designs look set to continue to meet their needs, making mobile gaming even more appealing to avid players.
The future of the mobile gaming industry
With around 700,000 mobile games to choose from, it’s no wonder that the number of active mobile gamers just keeps rising. Fans of traditional games, such as casino games can do everything they want to from within a mobile app, from joining a live-streamed roulette game to playing a slot machine online.
All types of games are available, from logic games and mental puzzles to adventure games and classic shoot ‘em ups. Players can test their reactions, their powers of observation, their general knowledge, their hand-eye coordination or any combination of the above, with plenty of other options as well.
With gaming continuing to grow as a market, and demand continuing to increase without showing any signs of plateauing, let alone dropping off, the future of mobile gaming seems pretty secure. As phones become better adapted to the needs of gamers, and games can be designed using more advanced technology, the industry seems likely to continue thriving for the foreseeable future.
