Is mobile gaming cool now? - No, not really

About a decade ago, if you told most people that the vast majority of gaming would be done on mobile phones, and that it would surpass all other forms of gaming in terms of numbers, you would’ve been told that you’re crazy.

However, with technology and our relationship with it changing so quickly and so drastically, gaming, too, is much more different than we thought it would’ve been. Back in the “olden days”, way before smartphones, the mobile gaming world was very small. For the phones that didn’t even have colored screens, games like snake, tic-tac-toe, and others were so much fun that you could sometimes keep playing them for hours on end, without even realizing how long you’ve been playing.

Then, with the rise of colored-screened phones, we got more exciting games, which totally blew our minds. Little did we know though, that these newer games would be literally nothing compared to what heights they’d be reaching with the smartphones.

Rise of the smartphones

Without getting too much into the nitty-gritty details of it, Apple’s iPhone was probably the first smartphone that was bought and used on a massive scale. Most of us had our minds blown when we saw what these phones could do in terms of gaming. It was an absolute night-and-day when compared to the games that buttoned phones offered.

The touch-screen aspect of it was also quite novel and interesting. Games like Doodle Jump, where you could control the direction of the movement by tilting your phone, was a huge factor in hyping up and bringing mobile gaming to where it got. Many years have passed since then, and mobile gaming changed and evolved even further, to the point of surpassing “regular” gaming.

Your favorite PC and console games on mobile

As the software development and programming advanced over the years, along with stronger and better-performing mobile devices, it became possible to port some of our favorite games on mobile by emulating them. A lot of people were equally delighted and impressed when we saw surprising ports like GTA San Andreas for Android devices. This was to be a mere sneak peek of what was about to come.

MOBA on Mobile

League of Legends was one of the most - if not THE most - popular games globally for quite a while. The number of people who played the game every month was absolutely staggering, allowing it to develop a huge ecosystem of its own, with esports, lore, community, and memes.

Besides being very well-done and fun to play, one of the main reasons for its gigantic success was how accessible it was to many people due to its relatively less demanding specs. This was to be one of the main reasons as to why it’d make a perfect mobile game. However, Riot Games didn’t seem to have any interest in making mobile League of Legends, but as you may guess, many others did, and it didn’t take too long for it to happen.

By around 2016, a Chinese company named Moonton released a game called “Mobile Legends”, a game that was similar to League of Legends in both name and gameplay; especially the latter.

The game had a map that was structured almost the exact same way, with all the major checkpoints being more-or-less the same. The characters were also strikingly similar, and it couldn’t even be denied, as league’s characters themselves, although having drawn a lot of inspiration from Dota, had a lot of unique spells and abilities that were not present in many other games.

The game was a massive success, with over 500 million total downloads globally, and 75 million active players. It even has its own esports scene, which is absolutely thriving.

The esports scene is huge, with a lot of active watchers who religiously follow it. This allows for some very exciting opportunities for the community to scratch their competitive itch by betting on their favorite teams. With the popularity of esports growing, the interest in making bets on these teams is huge, which is great for the development of the industry, as it would incentivize a lot of online gambling websites and sportsbooks to sponsor these teams, which would be a huge help to encourage upcoming talent in the esports communities. According to Playamo marketing executive Nigel Brown, mobile esports games is one of the industries that possibly has the biggest potential. According to the recent survey that they have conducted, some 25% of their users reported playing video games, and have played at least one MOBA game in the past year, and have felt “positive” about opportunities to bet on their favorite games. With such a global esports presence around the world, games like Mobile Legends offer an amazing new opportunity to connect players in ways previously thought impossible.

Mobile Legends’ biggest percentage of players come mostly from China and Indonesia, but the game is popular globally. With MOBA games being as popular as they are, this particular game has played a huge role in popularizing mobile games. Objectively speaking, however, MOBA games are best played on PC, as mouses play an integral role in controlling your character on a sufficient-enough level to make impressive plays. Fun as it may be, it’s still an inferior version of a game that’s built on a totally different engine and is supposed to be played in a totally different way.

Enter the Battle Royale

If you’ve been involved in gaming on any significant level, you’ll most definitely know what PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is. PUBG has taken the gaming world by a storm and is extremely popular on a global scale. It was so popular and trendy, in fact, that it paved a way for another, completely new Battle Royale game called Fortnite, which has even surpassed it at some point.

However, what really took PUBG to the level of global fame and recognition was its mobile version, which is completely free. The original PUBG, which is played on PC and consoles such as Xbox and Playstation, is still massively popular, but it was completely overpassed by the mobile version, which has over 200 million total players, with 30 million of them playing every single day, making it the most popular mobile game ever.

So are mobile games better than consoles and PC’s now?

How did these mobile versions become so popular? Are they actually better than their original counterparts? Well, probably not, but their success comes down to multiple different reasons.

For one, it’s free. Let’s face it - if we’re talking about a game that you really, really like and want to play, you’ll have no problem with shelling out a few bucks to buy it. But if you’re just a regular dude looking for something to help you pass some time, then you’re much more likely to go for a free version. It being free allows it to attract a lot of “casuals” that otherwise simply won’t have been there.

Also, the main difference between the two would be where and how they’re played. Lunch breaks, commutes, waiting for your pizza order - these are some of the most common times for when players go for a quick game. Objectively speaking, the utility and flexibility that mobile games offer is the primary reason for their success. If you’re a busy person, it’s much more manageable and justifiable to just bust out a quick game of PUBG with your buddy as opposed to sitting down on a dedicated gaming device, which could suck you into hours upon hours of gaming very easily.

The point is, these mobile versions definitely have their own advantages, but if we’re being real, in terms of the gameplay, enjoyment, and ability to perform on a higher level, they just don’t hold the candle to PC and console versions. These are meant for casual gaming, done by casual gamers.