Few people could have predicted the unstoppable rise of mobile gaming. While initially being a niche and novelty subsection of the gaming industry, it has grown over the past three years to overtake all other forms of gaming, with global spending on mobile games surpassing console spending for the first time in 2017. Now the industry is on the edge of a complete transformation, with completely new breeds of games and forms of gameplay taking over our devices. From casino classics to cloud-based titles, here are the surprising mobile gaming trends that are reshaping the industry right now.
Source: Pixabay
Cloud-Based Gaming is Coming
Thanks to cloud computing technology, our mobile gaming experiences are about to improve dramatically. The recently announced fall release of Google Stadia is just the latest in a long line of developments which aim to allow people to play console games on their phones via a cloud server. As well as Google’s product, Tencent is creating a streaming service for cloud-based Windows gaming on Android, while Microsoft’s Project X-Cloud will allow people to play genuine Xbox games on mobile.
Real-Money Gaming is Hot
While in-app purchases seem to be on their way out, games which allow people to wager and win real money are most definitely in. The online casino industry is already on track to become one of the largest entertainment sectors in the world, and mobile casino gaming is fuelling much of this growth in 2019. There are now so many mobile-friendly casino platforms that comparison sites such as Canada Casinos Online have sprung up to allow discerning gamers to choose the best sites to play their slots, blackjack, roulette and poker.
Hyper-Casual Games Are Dying
Those cheap, cheerful, and easy-to-play games which defined the early mobile gaming era both on iPhones and Android devices, such as Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja, are well and truly out the door. Downloads of hyper-casual titles have been plummeting in recent years, while the sales of more complex strategy-focused games have been climbing – which shows that mobile gaming has finally reached a new stage of maturity.
Source: Pixabay
Classics Are Making a Comeback
It’s a trend that was arguably kickstarted by the runaway success of Pokemon Go! back in 2016, and has continued unabated ever since. Classic games of all stripes are making a comeback, with new Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart, and Doom all coming to mobile this year. Beyond this, classic card games like blackjack are also proving popular with mobile gamers. You can try the blackjack mentioned here to get a taste of what the next era of mobile gaming will really look like.
Mobile is About to Become Multiplayer
Despite some valiant efforts from game developers, mobile gaming has never been a multiplayer sport in any true sense. That’s all about to change. PVP combat games are growing in popularity while global titles like Fortnite are finally breaking into the mobile market. Improvements in connectivity and mobile technology mean that multiplayer mobile gaming won’t just refer to online leaderboards.
This is what the future of gaming will look like. We expect to hear a lot more about these trends in the year ahead, especially considering how much investment online casinos and cloud-based services have been drawing in.
