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Is mobile gaming causing a decline for laptop gaming?

In 2018 a report was released that had definitive numbers showing that mobile gaming had taken over both PC and console gaming.

Mobile gaming held over 50% of the market for the first time, and the growth happened quickly.

When new technology and devices become available, people tend to favor them for a while giving a short bump in figures. But the mobile figures have been steadily increasing over time.

With mobile technology, we are at a place where mobiles act and function much like a PC.

This, in turn, forces game developers to focus on delivering dedicated mobile games or modifying those already available to be played on mobile.

Big game publishers like Riot, Activision, Blizzard, and EA Games prove that mobile gaming is here to stay. And the investment into mobile technology is worth making.

 

Early days of mobile gaming

It wasn’t apparent that mobile gaming would take the top spot for gamers and eventually a massive chunk of the gaming market in the early days.

After all, mobile devices weren’t smart at the time. Simply used as a means to call or text.

Computers and laptops always held more in terms of capabilities.

When games became to be more prevalent on mobile devices, they were a severely pared-back version.

But now, we have moved on from Snake and Tetris to fully-fledged mobile games.

And mobile gaming has many benefits, and game developers maximize those benefits by creating games dedicated to the mobile format.

Benefits of mobile gaming

Mobile gaming sales are explosive. They improve year on year, as does the technology that game publishers use to produce games.

But there are benefits to playing on a mobile instead of a laptop or a PC.

It is the most portable option for gamers. Laptops are easy to carry, but the fact is you will need to have a bag to take it with you. With a mobile phone, you simply put it in your pocket.

You will rarely be locked into a certain amount of playtime simply because mobile technology is designed for easy pick-up and quickly put down.

The cost of mobile games is usually considerably less than traditional PC or console games. So if you are on a budget, you can experience the stripped-back version of top titles.

The game types are as wide and varied as on a laptop or a PC, if not more so.

In terms of trade-offs, playing on a mobile is cheaper and more portable – the trade here is slightly less high-end graphics.

Although high-end mobile phone graphics are incredible.

Game types available on mobile phones

While MMORPG and shooters are better suited for consoles, laptops, and PCs, mobile reigns supreme in many areas.

A recent set of research released by Statista (collated by Udonis) shows that there are some genres that mobile gamers simply can’t get enough of.

The top five game genres that mobile gamers enjoy are:

  • Puzzle
  • Casino
  • RPG
  • Strategy
  • Simulation

While in the second position in terms of the percentage of players, mobile casinos and gambling games have gained the most ground. Seemingly coming out of nowhere to a solid second place.

The growth in the casino sector has contributed a huge chunk to the $182 billion remote gaming market’s worth.

It is predicted that we will see casinos become the most popular mobile game over the next few years. With new mobile developments and updates and the continued release of exciting new casino games, the mobile casino market continues to grow rapidly.

 

Similarities between mobile and laptop gaming

Despite the many differences, there are some crossovers between mobile gaming and laptop gaming.

They are both as wire-free as possible. Of course, you need to pay careful attention to the battery life (gaming is notoriously hard on the battery), but you’re wire-free.

You rely on data or Wifi to make sure you can play your game in most cases.

Technology manufacturers are creating devices that are focused on gaming.

Laptops and mobile phones are also used for more than just gaming, whereas a console only has one purpose.

 

Gaming technology in laptops

What you play your games on makes a big difference; as mentioned above, one of the similarities between laptops and mobile devices is they are being built focused on gaming.

Gaming laptops need to have a lot more under the hood since games are designed for PC and played on a laptop rather than only for a laptop specifically. Meaning the games can be very demanding on the system.

Mobile devices have games specifically designed for them; developers work to what the mobile devices can handle.

Meaning that while you can be pretty sure your mobile will handle any game, your laptop might be hit and miss.

 

Will mobile gaming cause a decline in laptop gaming?

Several CEOs have spoken up about the potential that mobile and tablet gaming could overshadow laptops.

Most notably, the CEO of Ubisoft, in an article published in 2018 spoke about cloud gaming and the switch to mobile gaming.

Yves Guillemot is known for making wild predictions, one of them being that the gaming market would be “twice as big as music,” and he was right on the money.

The speed at which the market has grown shows that once again, he may be correct.

While console, PC, tablets, and mobile devices battle it out – we know one thing for sure. Laptop gaming is here to stay, but mobile gaming provides a more mobility, affordability and some excellent purpose built games.

Perhaps the key is to have both!

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

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