Mobile Games are NOT the Future

The belief that mobile gaming is the future of gaming seems to be a rising idea, but a misled one, nonetheless. The belief that mobile gaming is the future is mislead because similar trends have happened in other media without becoming that medium’s “future,” the core intended audience (in this case, gamers) does not hold much interest in it, and increased accessibility does not represent a larger revolution.

            Outside Media

            I see mobile gaming as the same concept as sitcoms or the 500th sequel to your favorite vampire movie. These became rising trends for a larger portion of society, but that portion of society still remains mostly outside of the core intended audience for that medium.

            Every popular pastime gets a more “casual” version of it that appeals to the greater population on a mass level. They can be engaged with little past involvement, even within ongoing series. They require little obligation or commitment to enjoy, and can typically be enjoyed universally across age levels.

            Take sitcoms, for instance. While they have a greater plot that develops as the show goes on, each episode can typically be enjoyed as a stand alone episode without much need to know what’s going on in the series as a whole. It’s funny to just about anyone who watches it, and can be enjoyed in quick intervals.

            If all you watch on television is the occasional sitcom episode, this would fall into the casual category of television consumption. It’s something anyone can do with little investment, something that can be watched by people who don’t normally watch television, but can also be watched by hardcore, extensive television viewers as well.

            Sitcom television is a different format for television that appeals to a different group of people, but it hasn’t revolutionized television on the whole.

            Filthy Casuals

            Mobile games are no different here. Mobile gaming is a new platform for a new audience in gaming, but it hasn’t revolutionized core gaming nor the way core games are developed or enjoyed by its core players.

What is now called “mobile gaming” is not a change in the desired platform for the gaming community. Instead, it’s a shift in the gaming audience to reach a broader range of people outside of core “gamers.”

            Hardcore gamers aren’t flocking to mobile games as a replacement for their home PC or console gaming experiences. Angry Birds isn’t replacing Devil May Cry any more than The Big Bang Theory has replaced Dexter.

            In fact, it would seem that it would be more difficult to find hardcore gamers that actually put much time into mobile games.

            Most gamers I know may play the occasional Candy Crush or end up getting addicted to Flappy Bird while they’re bored and on their mobile phone away from their PC or consoles, but I have never met someone who regularly plays full-scale video games who actively looks to go play iOS, Android, or Windows 8 games.

            It just doesn’t happen.

The Accessible Revolution

            The thing is, though, they can play those games. That’s the point: anyone who has a smartphone, tablet, Facebook account, or some sort of mobile device can play mobile games. And as they continue to be released on Steam, PSN, and XBOX Live Arcade, mobile games are available for everyone.

            That level of accessibility is great, and has lead to some great successes in the mobile gaming industry. But, just as with sitcoms being on during the “dead times” when nothing is on TV, the core game industry isn’t chasing after the mobile market.

Unfortunately, we have seen some adverse effects in the gaming industry.

Given its dynamic and micro transaction-filled nature, the gaming industry appears to be more directly affected by temporary trends and fads than it probably should be.

            The rise of 99 cent and $5 games have brought forth a new demand for cheaper and quicker games. Response has been given by some developers and publishers, but at the cost of quality and polish.

            Franchises like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed have begun releasing annually, with alternating games being outsourced to different development houses by the publishers.

            This trend increases the accessibility of the titles to non-gamers and “casual gamers,” but produces more dissatisfaction among the franchises’ original fans.

            As the satisfied fanbase of Call of Duty and similar franchises dwindle (especially after more disappointing releases such as Call of Duty: Ghosts) this trend is likely to die off.

            An Untimely Demise

            The only way in which mobile games represent the future of gaming is in its assurance that the games industry is here to stay; as it has taken a step forward in establishment and accessibility that other established forms of media have already taken.

            In a nutshell, mobile games are not the new face of the gaming industry, but the “grown up pants” it needed to move forward.

            Those worried that the permanent future of all their favored franchises has an iOS or Android flagship need simply wait out the storm.

            Flappy Bird was out for months and popular for about two weeks before being taken off the market.