We’ve all been there. Playing a game when an advertisement pops up and shows what looks like a poorly designed game along with a title which says something like “Oh level 5 is impossible to pass *insert random emojis showing shock and anger and sadness*” If you were to actually play the game, you’ll probably get tired of the bad gameplay along with obnoxious advertisements which pop up every 15 seconds and display gameplay from another poorly made game with a clickbait title and just delete the game. However, if you were to reach level 5, it turns out it’s actually pretty hard but only if you decided to play it while doing a handstand. Level 5 would take 15 seconds to complete but takes 25 seconds because of the obligatory advertisements before and after the level. Now we have nothing against developers earning from free-to-play games by putting up ads. But an advertisement every 30 seconds is outrageous! That too on poorly made games with nothing of value presented to the player. You might say that these games are pushed towards kids who know nothing better. But then why do some of those ads contain inappropriate content as well? Let’s talk about why the mobile gaming community needs to stand firm against clickbait advertisements.
Why a clickbait advertisement is a problem
Mobile gaming has a lot of potential in today’s world as an industry. There are great games on the platform. But because of the actions of some people, we mobile gamers have become something of a laughing stock for those who have consoles or PCs. Some advertisements take it further and add fake crosses on their ads which on being clicked, take you to the Play Store/ App Store. We also mentioned earlier that some of these games include content that doesn’t seem to be appropriate at all since a lot of these games target children.
These games also try to take advantage of the fact that children would get attracted to the bright colors or mediocre gameplay in the advertisements and play on the innocence of kids who don’t know any better. This makes a dent in the mobile gaming community’s reputation and gives fuel to console and PC gamers who want to shame mobile gamers.
How we should fight this issue
Dealing with this won’t be easy. These games are making money by tricking people into downloading their games and also take advantage of younger demographics who fall for this easily. But there are always ways in which you can try and take action. Avoid these clickbait games and support developers who actually put effort into their games.
Granted that a few people who try to make a change might not be able to push too far. But when a community as large as the mobile gaming community gets together, even a quarter of its power would be enough. In some ways, the Play Store and App Store also need to take action because of inappropriate advertisements making their way onto games which a lot of children play.
Disclaimer: This post doesn’t target developers who include ads in their games to earn. These target mobile game ads which are clickbait-y and try to lure in people by showing the game to be better than it actually is.
Do you agree that the mobile gaming community needs to stand up against clickbait advertisements once and for all? Let us know in the comments below!
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Nice read and spot on article. I agree mobile gamers should stand up against this and I’m happy this article is doing just that. Once again great article.