Mobile gaming has gone through a long way – from a simple game to the multi-billion-dollar industry. Although it is a young industry, its lightning-speed growth made it one of the most popular gaming forms as of today. Mobile games became easily accessible to all their consumers since nowadays, most people have their smartphones. Additionally, they do not need to invest in buying specific consoles for playing their favorite games. Thanks to the fast technological improvements, mobile gaming has become complementary to the traditional console or computer gaming. They are very straightforward to understand and, therefore, suitable for different generations. Let’s take a closer look at the evolution of mobile gaming through generations.
When speaking about mobile gaming, we don’t refer only to playing games for having fun in free time. eSports is a fast-growing market, while online casino games are also very famous. Dive into this article and find out why the mobile gaming industry became so famous, what the most popular games are, and much more!
The evolution of mobile gaming
The first mobile games were presented in the transition from the 20th to the 21st century, and many of you probably remember the ever-popular Snake. It is the first mobile game that boomed the market with, for that time, an astonishing 350 million users worldwide. It was pre-installed on Nokia mobile phones. Although it used a basic, black, and white interface, with no graphics effects whatsoever, it was something new on the market that provided a lot of fun to all players.
The technology was on the steep rise, and in 2007 the world was presented with the very first smartphone. From that point, mobile phones were not primarily used just for making calls and communicating via messages. Their users were able to install different applications, and mobile phones started being more alike PCs. Of course, they had lots of limitations compared to desktop machines, but through time, those differences became very slim. The first batch of popular smartphone games started with the Angry Birds, a game that was premiered in 2009.
We can say that smartphones made a breakthrough in the industry since users could install their favorite games. They couldn’t do that before, since games were pre-installed to a mobile device. Thanks to smartphones, players should just download and install the app and start enjoying it. Furthermore, with the improvements around Bluetooth technology and internet connection accessibility and speed, people could play games wherever they are and any time they want. The very last concept of gaming in general, including mobile gaming, is cloud gaming. Thanks to it, the game can be streamed to the player’s device, without having to download, install it, or rely on the system capabilities of a local machine.
The most popular games
The Covid-19 pandemic also impacted the gaming industry, especially gambling, since land-based casinos have been closed. Those measures moved the gambling industry online, and its growth is record-high. Today, gamblers can find numerous online casinos that are also accessible on mobile devices. Moreover, mobile users can enjoy specific bonuses and promotions and add extra value to the money they initially deposited into their account. Dip into the list of trusted sites available for Malaysian players, as shown here, if you want to try out your luck at online roulette, for example.
Slots have the most diversified offer of all types of mobile casino games. Players can pick from hundreds of titles, from the traditional ones to the bran-new editions. The ever-popular roulette can also be played online on a mobile device, from the classical types like the American or European roulette to the modern, multi-wheel ones. Other table games, like poker or blackjack, are also available for mobile casino customers, who can also enjoy live dealers.
Mobile casino games are not the only ones that are popular among players. Gaming is the third most-famous app category, right behind the social media and shopping applications. People spend a significant amount of time playing MOBA games, such as Brawl Stars or Arena of Valor. Racing games are always incredibly fun, and one of the most played ones lately are F1 Mobile Racing and Need for Speed: No Limits. There is also a considerable fanbase around shooting games, and players spend hours on Call of Duty Mobile or Fortnite. Strategic games shouldn’t be underestimated too, and tech innovations around smartphones made them available on the go as well.
What different generations prefer?
The confinement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic saw many people at home, and they needed to find alternative ways of getting entertained. All generations started spending more time online, especially the Millennials, who are consuming games in all forms more than ever. More than 70% of this generation played video games, and they prefer gaming over watching a TV show. Another emerging gaming category, eSports, occupies the attention of most of the Millennials. They are the largest eSports audience, larger than the baby-boomers. The competitive nature of eSports, its tournaments, and professional players makes this market so famous. Everyone can watch these competitions live, thanks to streaming services like Twitch, Mixer, or Hatch, which is specialized only for streaming mobile games.
Reports say that more than 70% of the audience watch the live gaming action on mobile devices. On the other hand, baby-boomers are usually underestimated in the gaming population. Almost one-quarter of the gamers’ population belongs to the baby-boomers generation. The truth is they are just focused on different gaming genres. This generation prefers playing puzzle games or luck-based ones, such as mobile casino games. Baby boomers are the generation that enjoys gambling, and around 80% of them confirmed that they played at least one casino game last year. They prefer games that are easy to understand, so it is not strange that baby boomers are mostly playing slots. Besides them, this generation also enjoys lotteries, while card games are positioned a bit lower on their list of preferred online casino games.
Final Thoughts
After being shadowed by its PC and console equivalents, mobile gaming has been growing rapidly lately. Estimations say that around 2.5 billion people all around the world enjoy gaming on their smartphones. Their convenience made them so famous, while some tech gaps have been overcome lately. We believe that the popularity of mobile gaming will keep rising in the future, and it is going to become one of the most influential markets in the entertainment industry. In time we believe the evolution of mobile gaming will only continue making it everpopular as it has through generations.
What are your thoughts on the evolution of mobile gaming through generations? Let us know in the comments section below.
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