Revenues set to hit $100B this year as locked-down masses flock to casual gaming.
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How mobile games crushed consoles
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
This article looks like it was recycled from years ago with updated data.
Consoles may not be at the peak they were with the PS2, but they are doing perfectly fine.
Most people who has tried to replace videogame consoles with mobile games has found himself or herself on a sea of crapware, pay to win and worse.
Mobile gaming looks better than it really is due to the fremiun model. There you have a lot of people playing without paying a cent and a small percent who expends a lot of money on it plus the people that expends money on it but not that much. Basically on average only about 30% something of player of freemiun games expend money on them.
Take a look at Nintendo. The Switch and Switch Lite are cheaper than many modern smartphones. So that combined with a decent library of games has made them sell quite well.
the PS4 is basically the most popular console at the moment and has overpriced games that people buy anyway.
Microsoft... well are they even making money? Hard to tell.
Consoles may not be at the peak they were with the PS2, but they are doing perfectly fine.
Most people who has tried to replace videogame consoles with mobile games has found himself or herself on a sea of crapware, pay to win and worse.
Mobile gaming looks better than it really is due to the fremiun model. There you have a lot of people playing without paying a cent and a small percent who expends a lot of money on it plus the people that expends money on it but not that much. Basically on average only about 30% something of player of freemiun games expend money on them.
Take a look at Nintendo. The Switch and Switch Lite are cheaper than many modern smartphones. So that combined with a decent library of games has made them sell quite well.
the PS4 is basically the most popular console at the moment and has overpriced games that people buy anyway.
Microsoft... well are they even making money? Hard to tell.
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It's had the opposite effect for me. I only had time for mobile gaming on the bus to work. Now I have more time for console and PC gaming and rarely play games on my phone. Heck, I rarely use my phone now that I'm working from home.
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Mobile games = gambling
I get spammed by "gaming" companies on LinkedIn all the fucking time. I keep telling them I don't do gambling and shady government agencies but they don't listen and insist that they're "gaming" companies.
No, you're not, you lying POS person. You just bombard gullible people with "hooray", and "you're amazing" messages/sounds/animations.
That's what you get after everyone joined the internet...
Yes, I am bitter. I am very bitter. Boo hoo
I get spammed by "gaming" companies on LinkedIn all the fucking time. I keep telling them I don't do gambling and shady government agencies but they don't listen and insist that they're "gaming" companies.
No, you're not, you lying POS person. You just bombard gullible people with "hooray", and "you're amazing" messages/sounds/animations.
That's what you get after everyone joined the internet...
Yes, I am bitter. I am very bitter. Boo hoo
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Chemical Tribe
Ars Legatus Legionis
That's nice. Am I supposed to be happy that games like candy crush are doing well?
Of which anyone can play on a windows 10 computer?
Of which anyone can play on a windows 10 computer?
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Who knew that having free games with dubious, gambling-adjacent microtransactions on a platform that's in a third of the world's hands could make you lots of money, particularly when everyone's suddenly got more time on their hands...
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To be fair, mobile games aren’t gambling, because gambling—at least in theory—has the prospect of paying out a return. Mobile games are more like a paper shredder labeled “Slot Machine” that you stick dollars into.
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Mobile gaming is just a small part of the $495 billion market in which it operates:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/253 ... gross-win/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/253 ... gross-win/
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No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. Mobile games are more like a paper shredder labeled “Slot Machine” that strobes and makes a cool noise when you stick dollars into it.
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I think I've enjoyed PC gaming far too much to ever be able to enjoy anything currently out for mobile.
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I play a ton of games on both my PS4 Pro (and PSVR!) and my iPad Pro. They’re both great! I use the PS4 for more cinematic games that benefit from the big screen, like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or Spider-Man, or VR games like Tetris Effect.
But the iPad is also great for games that I can play anywhere in the house, on a particularly comfortable device. There’s a wide range of games that go far beyond ‘gambling’ or micro-transition based games, including such games as Monument Valley, FTL, Gems of War (which has microtransactions, but they’re completely unnecessary to progress in the game), Civilization 6, the New York Times crossword puzzle, and my current favorite, Slay the Spire.
As much as I love the PS4, I’ve lately found that I’ve spent more time, and gotten more play/$, from games on my iPad.
But the iPad is also great for games that I can play anywhere in the house, on a particularly comfortable device. There’s a wide range of games that go far beyond ‘gambling’ or micro-transition based games, including such games as Monument Valley, FTL, Gems of War (which has microtransactions, but they’re completely unnecessary to progress in the game), Civilization 6, the New York Times crossword puzzle, and my current favorite, Slay the Spire.
As much as I love the PS4, I’ve lately found that I’ve spent more time, and gotten more play/$, from games on my iPad.
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It’s deeply unsettling that there’s a multi-billion dollar industry built around enticing people spend money on what’s effectively the digital version of a Fisher-Price See ‘n’ Say.
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How regional is this? I can imagine in a lot of 2nd world areas in China and India that a spending $2USD for an in-game purchase on a phone they already own is a lot more viable than buying a Nintendo Switch and a $70USD game.
Plus population is on their side generally
Plus population is on their side generally
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I am obligated to link South Park's take on freemium games.
I'm in my mid 30s so I'm considered old now ( :'( ) to a lot of people in their late teens to mid 20s, so I don't give two tugs of a dead dog's dick about this clickbait bullshit. Oh boy, a mindlessly simple game whose difficulty ramps up like anything with mass trying to hit light speed; it becomes fucking impossible unless you buy perks. Yay, I get more... super unlocks. Or super-duper-mega-blasto cannons for my castle. Or I can go 10% faster on this "perpetual running into the distance" game. Why is this a thing?
Oh right, people don't read up on this sort of thing, these tactics are designed to swallow them and get them jonesing for more without them even knowing that these companies know how to tailor the game to have them craving more.
I'm in my mid 30s so I'm considered old now ( :'( ) to a lot of people in their late teens to mid 20s, so I don't give two tugs of a dead dog's dick about this clickbait bullshit. Oh boy, a mindlessly simple game whose difficulty ramps up like anything with mass trying to hit light speed; it becomes fucking impossible unless you buy perks. Yay, I get more... super unlocks. Or super-duper-mega-blasto cannons for my castle. Or I can go 10% faster on this "perpetual running into the distance" game. Why is this a thing?
Oh right, people don't read up on this sort of thing, these tactics are designed to swallow them and get them jonesing for more without them even knowing that these companies know how to tailor the game to have them craving more.
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Interesting. I just read an article about Nintendo doing so well with the Switch that they were abandoning mobile games.
Of course you've got the lower barrier to entry (we all have phones) and often free-to-play and fremium models preferred by mobile developers. On top of that, the PS4 and XBone are at the end of their respective lifecycles and console players and game developers are looking ahead to new consoles later this year.
Of course you've got the lower barrier to entry (we all have phones) and often free-to-play and fremium models preferred by mobile developers. On top of that, the PS4 and XBone are at the end of their respective lifecycles and console players and game developers are looking ahead to new consoles later this year.
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That logic really only holds true if you believe that there is no perceived "value" in what the user gets out of the mobile app. I'd argue that the old fashioned definition of something only being declared gambling if there is a direct payout or monetary game to be VERY antiquated. I think it's been more than reasonably proven that digital goods HAVE a real world value, even if that value is only applicable to a smaller subset of people, potentially even just one.
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I see the comparison between mobile games and console games similar to reality tv and something dramatic on HBO/etc. Its easier and cheaper to make and is more accessable because the small/no barrier to entry, but the people who want more and are willing to spend more to get it aren't going to go away, and if they're given good stuff will only spend more.
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I think the worst thing about the freemium game is how it swallows up the best franchises. Do you like Star Wars? Star Trek? Harry Potter? Game of Thrones? Lord of the Rings? There won't ever be really good mobile game in those worlds because the freemium model is too attractive, too easy, and too easy to just make a crap game with acquisition of the best characters dangling on a stick just out of reach (out of reach of the hand but not the wallet)
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I still don't understand who is playing these games, let alone paying for them. I take the train to work every day (Europe) and it's SO rare that I see anyone playing a game on their phone. Years ago I would occasionally see Candy Crush, but I never see anyone playing phone games anymore, even teenagers and college kids. I haven't had a game installed on my phone in years either, all the mobile games went from "bad" to "predatory garbage".
I remember hacking my iPhone so that Peggle 2 was playable (loved the original), but every like 20 levels they had a total BS level that was pay-to-win. I don't think I've played a mobile game since then. I play maybe 2 hours a week at home on a PS4 (averaged over the year) now and no online/computer games.
I remember hacking my iPhone so that Peggle 2 was playable (loved the original), but every like 20 levels they had a total BS level that was pay-to-win. I don't think I've played a mobile game since then. I play maybe 2 hours a week at home on a PS4 (averaged over the year) now and no online/computer games.
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I think there's a definite East Vs West divide, and probably male Vs female as well.
These are demographics that either haven't gotten up with traditional gaming because they are emerging markets, and the whole lifestyle and ecosystem is different, or aren't that much about traditional gaming.
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Weird article. It’s all about use cases. I prefer to use a large screen and a controller. Some prefer a smaller screen and a keyboard. Some prefer a tiny screen and a tap. The difference is, the device with the tap also has other functions and therefore is more likely to be owned. It’s just scale. The experience isn’t the same, which is why mobile devices need to lean on micro transactions. No one would pay $60 for a mobile game, in the same way no one would pay $15 to watch a YouTube video at a movie theater.
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I wouldn’t debate that digital goods have perceived value. But spending money in return for something perceived to be of equal value is a transaction, not gambling. By your definition of gambling, buying a drink or food at a store would be gambling.
I think, however, that we’re discussing two different types of game transactions. If you’re talking about say, spending money on a loot box that has the chance of rewarding an item or skin, then I agree that that is gambling—no question.
I was referring more to the types of mobile games where, say, someone might purchase $5 worth of game currency in order to buy a boost that speeds up the number of widgets produced.
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Same here. I used to fly a lot for business, mostly within Europe so the flights weren't really the type suitable for sleeping unless I was dead tired to begin with, so I turned to Angry Birds which was the style at the time. Then I got bored of Angry Birds and tried to find something else, only to discover that fucking everything was both online-only and mtx-ridden horseshit. I eventually gave up and resigned myself to just trying to scrounge up enough reading material to last me through the flight.
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macosandlinux
Ars Praefectus
There is a decent amount of good to great (mostly indie) titles on iOS (and to a lesser extend on Google Play) that are premium and worth purchasing. Sad that the F2F market has basically swallowed the chance of these titles to make it to the top of the charts.
Also note Apple trying with Apple Arcade to offer more artistic and solid games for a subscription fee now realized that they want "better engagement" with their titles, meaning the Match-3 or "come back daily for coins and loot" is back there,too?
Apple is reportedly canceling some Arcade contracts to focus on ‘engagement’
Also note Apple trying with Apple Arcade to offer more artistic and solid games for a subscription fee now realized that they want "better engagement" with their titles, meaning the Match-3 or "come back daily for coins and loot" is back there,too?
Apple is reportedly canceling some Arcade contracts to focus on ‘engagement’
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I don't find the larger increase in mobile vs. console gaming revenue during the COVID-19 crisis surprising at all.
If you're jobless and trapped at home, you're going to use whatever you already have to game. In non tech geek households that means that there isn't already a gaming computer nor gaming console. Especially if you're now unemployed, you're not going to spend a couple hundred dollars on a gaming console, you're going to use the hardware you already have: your mobile phone.
Also, a lot of households don't have multiple computers for every person in the family, but will have a mobile phone or tablet for each member.
As a tech geek with more screens / consoles / computers than people in the household, I've done way more gaming on my gaming PC, but haven't really spent any more money than normal because I'm just going through my massive backlog of games that i previously didn't have the time to play.
Edit: clarity
If you're jobless and trapped at home, you're going to use whatever you already have to game. In non tech geek households that means that there isn't already a gaming computer nor gaming console. Especially if you're now unemployed, you're not going to spend a couple hundred dollars on a gaming console, you're going to use the hardware you already have: your mobile phone.
Also, a lot of households don't have multiple computers for every person in the family, but will have a mobile phone or tablet for each member.
As a tech geek with more screens / consoles / computers than people in the household, I've done way more gaming on my gaming PC, but haven't really spent any more money than normal because I'm just going through my massive backlog of games that i previously didn't have the time to play.
Edit: clarity
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Console and PC gaming is the NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL of sports TV.
Mobile is the lumberjack and bowling competitions of sports TV.
It's cheap, low quality, filler. But hey, it makes money, and that's all the devs care about.
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More like "Console and PC Gaming is the Westworld of TV, and Mobile is the WWE Smackdown of TV." The critics love to talk about Westworld, and it gets the memes, but WWE gets massively more viewership and money.
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From the point of view of video game preservation, mobile gaming sounds like a complete nightmare.
These video games are digitally delivered, constantly updated and often require a server connection to work. Most of them are short-lived. The hardware and operating systems they run on are also constantly evolving.
For instance, the excellent game "Tales of Honor: The Secret Fleet" by Evergreen Studios, from 2014, is already unplayable. Even if you have the binary: the game requires a connection to servers now offline. Only a few videos and articles on the web remain to testify that this game had ever existed.
I can show my kids the video games I was playing when I was their age: I have kept the cartridges, which still work. And even if I had not, these cartridges have been dumped somewhere else and emulators are available. (I leave aside the legal issues here.)
Today console games are already more difficult to keep for a long time, even with a physical support: they are constantly patched and the patches are delivered digitally. PC games are generally digitally delivered, but at least some of them are available without DRM, so the installation files can be properly saved. The hardware and operating systems are generally backward-compatibles.
But mobile games? How to keep records of this phenomenon? All of the intellectual and artistic work (which seems considerable) that have been put into this media by the developers will just vanish.
(Sorry for bad English, not native. Hope it's understandable.)
These video games are digitally delivered, constantly updated and often require a server connection to work. Most of them are short-lived. The hardware and operating systems they run on are also constantly evolving.
For instance, the excellent game "Tales of Honor: The Secret Fleet" by Evergreen Studios, from 2014, is already unplayable. Even if you have the binary: the game requires a connection to servers now offline. Only a few videos and articles on the web remain to testify that this game had ever existed.
I can show my kids the video games I was playing when I was their age: I have kept the cartridges, which still work. And even if I had not, these cartridges have been dumped somewhere else and emulators are available. (I leave aside the legal issues here.)
Today console games are already more difficult to keep for a long time, even with a physical support: they are constantly patched and the patches are delivered digitally. PC games are generally digitally delivered, but at least some of them are available without DRM, so the installation files can be properly saved. The hardware and operating systems are generally backward-compatibles.
But mobile games? How to keep records of this phenomenon? All of the intellectual and artistic work (which seems considerable) that have been put into this media by the developers will just vanish.
(Sorry for bad English, not native. Hope it's understandable.)
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Hi, I'll admit to being a filthy mobile gamer peasant. I play a couple of freemium games (inc. one of the ones listed in the article sidebar), and pay for some.
Sometime in the last few years, mobile developers realized that revenues strongly correlated with community engagement. That is, people who spend the most money when they have friends in game, are part of an active guild, etc. I believe this is what has led to the rise of newer games that are surprisingly f2p friendly, and much less exploitative than the FarmVilles of the genre. Not to say that any given f2p game is good, most are still trash. But you can find good experiences if you look.
I think I average maybe $15/mo on mobile games. Some people may go to the movies, others might have a WoW subscription, whatever floats your boat. I derive enough entertainment from it that I feel is worth the money. Am I telling you to go out right now and install? No. But I also think a lot of the hate is the new version of "I don't watch sportsball".
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I can't remember ever playing a mobile game. if I have it was so long ago that I can't even remember.
I'm a pretty active gamer regardless and the thought of playing anything on my phone seems like a mind numbing, soul sucking use of my time.
I'm a pretty active gamer regardless and the thought of playing anything on my phone seems like a mind numbing, soul sucking use of my time.
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This is kind of click-baitey for Ars.
I wouldn't say mobile games 'crushed' consoles unless people actually moved away from consoles towards mobile games, which hasn't been the case. It's opened a new market, for sure, but it's kind of like saying comic books crushed novels. There's space for both and often the space isn't even overlapping.
I wouldn't say mobile games 'crushed' consoles unless people actually moved away from consoles towards mobile games, which hasn't been the case. It's opened a new market, for sure, but it's kind of like saying comic books crushed novels. There's space for both and often the space isn't even overlapping.
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Indeed. On top of that, the Switch Lite is sold out everywhere, and has been for over a month now. List price is $199. The average price on ebay is $270.
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The author may be very well right, but it's very hard to gauge it.
E.g. comparing console sales in US in May vs. April vs mobile games in Europe Feb-March. That makes no sense. I stopped reading at that point.
E.g. comparing console sales in US in May vs. April vs mobile games in Europe Feb-March. That makes no sense. I stopped reading at that point.
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Games are a given. I own a Switch, an Xbox One, and a PS4. 95% of games are available on both xbox and ps4, and I tend to choose xbox because I hate how slow the PS4 is at downloading updates etc. I think I only own one PS4-exclusive game, Horizon: Zero Dawn (not counting PS4 remakes of PS3 games).
The PS3 had far more exclusives, but I can't play them on the PS4 without buying them all over again as "remasters". At least with the Xbox One I can play all 4 Mass Effect games, or the entire Dragon Age trilogy.
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