Mobile game development creates video games for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It can be challenging to create a well-designed, playable game that meets users’ expectations while also maintaining an appropriate level of responsiveness.
It has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the late 1990s. At first, developers made games for personal devices like PDAs and cellular phones. But as mobile phone technology improved, so did mobile game development.
Many platforms are available for the mobile game developer, including smartphones, tablets, and even laptops. And with the advent of inexpensive gaming engines and tools available on the internet, anyone can develop a mobile game.
This article will discuss some common challenges and solutions to the biggest mobile game development trends.
What is mobile game development?
It is a growing industry seeing more and more interest from both small businesses and large corporations. There are many different aspects to mobile game development, but the basics of the process remain the same.
First, a mobile game developer creates a basic outline or blueprint for the game. They will begin developing the game using specific programming languages and tools. They will also need to create graphics and sound files and test and beta the game before release.
Biggest Mobile Game Development Trends
Mobile gaming has emerged during the last few years. The latest data says that 2.69 billion mobile game players are there globally. Moreover, mobile games acquire almost 66% of the App Store revenue. We can predict that it will increase more in 2022.
Although there were difficult situations like the pandemic, the arrival of many app verticals like social and shopping, and iOS 14 privacy changes, the mobile game industry produced more than $174 billion in 2020. Furthermore, the prediction says that it will become $217 billion by 2023, with the most significant contribution from the mobile industry.
Undoubtedly, mobile gaming will constantly develop in 2022, and marketers and developers should reap the benefits and make plans to win the race. If you also want to deal with this, you must check out this year’s mobile game development trends.
Mobile Game Industry Statistics
- According to Statista, mobile games make up 57% of gaming revenue.
- According to App Annie, client investment in games reached USD 116 Billion in 2021.
- Adjust states that mobile gaming will reach USD 272 billion by 2030.
- According to Adjust, 25% of iOS applications and 21% of Android apps collected are games.
- According to App Annie, there were 82.98 billion game collects in 2021.
- Unity states that APAC is the quickest and largest developing regional market for mobile games.
- As of August 2021, more than 7 million games and applications were available globally on only the App Store.
- According to the GameAnalytics report, the number of mobile gamers experienced a hike of 46% in the first quarter of 2021, from 1.2 billion to 1.75 billion gamers per month.
- Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report states that 2.8 billion gamers globally will produce USD 189.3 billion in the global games market in 2022.
Mobile Gaming Trends to Check Out In 2022
01: The Constant Growth of AR Gaming
AR or Augmented Reality games include a pre-developed game ambiance covered by the users’ natural environment. AR helps integrate audio content and game visuals with the users’ real-time environment, making an engaging experience where the environment can be converted into a playground.
Pokémon Go is a famous example of an AR game. According to the Infoholic Research’s reports, the AR gaming’s value is predicted to become nearly $285 billion by 2024. And if this happens, it would represent a CAGR of 152%.
More reasons are associated with AR gaming’s appeal. For example, AR gaming creates an engaging user experience. It provides a tailored and unique gaming experience by integrating natural and virtual environments.
Users always want to explore something new in the gaming platform, and AR gaming helps. It reaps the benefits of the real-world environment to make a unique user experience, keeping games exclusive and immersive.
02: Mobile Cloud Gaming
The value of mobile cloud gaming will be $1.15 billion in 2020, and we can predict it to reach $2.70 billion by 2026. Cloud gaming allows people to play streamed games across many devices. Players need a device with a 5G connection for cloud gaming.
Particular hardware is not mandatory for cloud gaming. Players can join the same game anywhere, enabling better interaction, collaboration, and competition in tournaments. Moreover, they don’t need to pay for high-end gaming PCs or consoles. They can access most complex games from their mobile devices.
It helps gaming organizations create games to support more players than before. Players don’t need to update or collect games with cloud gaming, as automatic updates will occur in the background. It makes a smoother gaming experience for gamers who don’t prefer collecting or updating games manually.
03: Multiplayer Games
Games with multiplayer features are getting more popular in the gaming industry. After all, people like to play games with actual humans, whether they are familiar with them. Developers must consider the specific gaming functionalities during multiplayer game development.
A multiplayer game enables people to involve with others, hence promoting an engaging gameplay experience. Many applications also allow players to interact with each other through engaging mobile sessions during playing.
04: Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual Reality or VR will become more prevalent in 2022. After all, it provides a great gaming experience that gamers seek these days. VR headsets are also famous if you want to play VR games.
Thereby, game developers pay to heed to execute more virtual reality in their apps. VR technology helps developers provide a high-end gaming experience and lets gamers virtually encounter a wholly fictional or real-world. Alongside making a modern feel, VR technology has developed many scopes for game developers to add sophistication and elegance to their games.
05: AI-Powered Mobile Game Development
AI technology has always been popular in the mobile game development sector. The technology has powered developers to recognize gamers’ behaviors and add high-end features to mobile games. AI helps game designers tailor every player’s experience depending on their interaction with the game.
With AI, a developer can analyze when players are getting bored at a particular phase or level of the game. Hence, AI technology can help change the concept of a game so that it can reach every player’s skill.
Furthermore, game developers can implement AI-enabled tools to produce an algorithm that identifies the right time for a player to show advertisements or in-app purchase options. This technology can help developers earn more without impacting their gamers’ experience by assessing their in-app behavior.
06: The Metaverse
Although Microsoft and Facebook already planned to develop an engaging and unique digital world for leisure and work, millions of gamers are already habituated to participating in the virtual world in all types of entertainment. In 2022, this in-game world concept will extend and take other forms of entertainment like branded marketing or music concerts.
The biggest game development companies and franchises will reuse them as platforms, enabling a more convenient client base and enhanced user experience. Many people will find space in these online worlds to involve in chatting, socializing, or other shared communication. Game developers can retain their players by increasing their loyalty as subscribers or converting them to a potential audience of all marketers.
07: The Demand for eSports
Gamers these days watch sports more than play. Hence, mobile eSports has become one of the top mobile gaming trends. According to Newzoo, almost half a billion eSports viewers were in 2020. So, we expect the same trend to continue in 2022 due to the increasing demand for game watching.
Since more people know about it, we can see a rise in eSports viewership. However, developers must consider social media integrations for streaming channels. It helps gamers play and stream their favorite games.
Free and paid promotions are the benefits of social media integration. And gamers always value other gamers’ feedback while collecting a game.
08: Better Social Interaction
Socialization through online games has become an essential part of our lives. Online games have been the key source to meet our social requirements. However, we expect this trend to continue in the future.
When players make friends while playing, they will spend more time on the game. Spending more time playing helps increase the chances of retaining games for taking subscriptions. Moreover, developers can have an active user community that can collaborate on enhancing gaming experiences and features.
Since the pandemic, most people have been working remotely. Hence, social interaction will be one of the significant mobile game development trends of 2022.
09: Hyper-Casual Game Development
Hyper-casual games are free to collect and hence, easy to play. They are famous for their user-friendly and minimalistic UI. People prefer such fun and have started to spend more time with them during the pandemic.
49% of all mobile game collects belonged to hyper-casual games in the first quarter of 2020. The Demand for this game development is apparent, although they cannot bring the same revenue as AAA games.
10: Wearables
Wearables are no more restricted to fitness purposes. Fitness devices like smartwatches can track your body movements, pressure levels, or pulse rate. However, people also use intelligent jackets and other wearables for gaming.
Developers must require creating games compatible with wearable technology. And it’s the fundamental technology to add to the list of mobile game development trends of 2022.
11: Cross-Platform Gaming Support
Mobile gaming platforms offer both full and partial support for other places because of cloud gaming. So, it’s beneficial for your gamers as they can choose the medium of their choice. Since not everybody can afford both Xbox, cross-play can bring many audiences.
The popularity of cross-platform gaming is increasing day by day. On the other hand, the platform owners want to keep their potential clients for longer. Most of the games currently provide cross-play support despite some tech issues. Hence, it is one of the top mobile game development trends of 2022.
The Future of the Mobile Gaming Industry
Although the mobile game industry has experienced fantastic growth possibilities, it has gone through several difficulties. After all, every organization wants to upgrade its features and experience the use of modern apps.
Hence, mobile game developers should follow the market trends and demands and combine them with only parts and functionalities in the tech platforms.
Hopefully, they can deliver excellent and exciting game features serving gamers’ changing requirements. However, the tech world should have more unique solutions, alluring strategies, and modern technologies to unveil the future of the mobile gaming industry.
Summary
A mobile game is an electronic game that typically uses microtransactions to monetize gameplay. The first mobile games were text-based, but the trend now is for more graphical and immersive games, with larger audiences than console or PC games. Many different platforms and development tools are used to create mobile games, but the most common ones are iOS and Android.
There are many different mobile game development platforms and engines available to developers, and it can be hard to know where to start with so many options. However, developers can begin creating their mobile games by using resources like this overview or the specific platforms covered in this article.
To unfold the potential of the mobile gaming industry, you need to follow the critical trends of mobile game development. And this blog discusses the same.