The mobile game industry made over $ 20 billion in the...

It is set to outperform consoles and desktops by 3.1 times and 2.8 times this year

IIt’s no secret that the pandemic has drastically changed our lives. The phenomenal increase in consumer spending via app stores is an unprecedented shock to the status quo. While game developers have traditionally targeted consoles and desktops in the past, $ 20 billion is a truckload of green bills that no company in their right mind would miss. We’ve seen efforts from giants like Nintendo in the mobile game space, but none of them obscure games found on gaming hardware.

Strength in numbers

In a revealing report by analysts at App Annie, games made up an impressive 80% of the money consumers spent on the Google Play Store last quarter (65% on iOS users). The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in weekly game downloads increasing 15% year over year, with over a billion downloads every week. $ 20 billion is an amount that can make game developers rethink their approach when it comes to focusing on dedicated hardware. To be honest, a projected 3.1x and 2.8x lead over consoles and desktop games this year makes me wonder why I got hyped for next-gen consoles in the first place. Why should Sony and Microsoft struggle with tight hardware margins when they could make more money on devices consumers already have? The latter has already begun moving away from traditional console wars into the lucrative mobile game market.

This also brings home the point that mobile gaming may well be the future of gaming itself, despite the popular belief that smartphones are not hardcore enough. Companies are only interested in such opinions if they are shaping trends, which is clearly not the case here. Games like Fourteen days and PUBG They found great success when they hit the smartphone app stores and reached an audience using a digital-first environment willing to spend big bucks on cosmetics and other in-app purchases. It’s no surprise that giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are stepping up their cloud gaming efforts to merge their hardcore and casual earnings streams with cloud-based subscriptions.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda for $ 7.5 billion by Microsoft wasn’t a move against Sony’s PlayStation 5, but a decision that could teleport franchises such as teleportation DOOM and The Elder Scrolls into a market that makes $ 20 billion a quarter. Don’t tell me it’s not about the money, trillion dollar corporations are not charities.

Mobile gaming is the future

Like it or not, gaming companies aren’t going to sit idle waiting for the $ 20 billion cash cow to go away. With iconic franchises like Pokémon and call of Duty It won’t be long before you can play as Master Chief or Kratos on a smartphone. And I’m not just talking about streaming, I’m also talking about mobile-first variants of games where complexity is traded for accessibility. Sure, the move may not get approved by the hardcore gaming crowd. But Microsoft and Sony will laugh all the way to the bank.

Mobile games have the potential to create steady revenue streams in a market that was once overcrowded with $ 60 worth of AAA titles. Subscription models and in-app purchases are finally taking off. Although over 4 years old, Pokémon GO It currently tops the charts when it comes to spending money in the game. Constant updates ensure that players are always connected to new tasks. It’s a tempting model for both game developers who want more cash and consumers who just can’t get enough of a game.

With hyper-casual games dominating the download charts, developers will be forced to use existing IPs in creative ways. They need to have experiences that retain the charm of the original series while opening doors to audiences they have not served before. While like games Between us work pretty well, games that used to be based on lightning-fast reflexes and muscle memory now need to rethink their mechanics. Given the surge in the mobile game market, this is the perfect time for age-old PC and console developers to throw their hats in the ring. After all, it already does more than desktop and console games combined.