Are Mobile Apps Taking Over Console Games?
The Rise Of Mobile Gaming
I remember the first mobile phone I ever had. A chunky Nokia with a pixelated black and white display. At the time this was the cutting edge of phone technology. It could make calls, send texts, and even play games. The ability for a phone to play games was huge at the time. Despite the fact that games were simple ones such as Pong and Snake.
These games might seem like relics now, but they were the progenitors of what would become a massive gaming industry. Mobile gaming slowly started to take shape as mobile technology advanced. Improved displays and graphical capabilities lead to companies developing better looking games.
Then came the age of smartphones. And with them mobile gaming really came into its own. If you look at the state of mobile gaming today you will see a huge selection of 3D games from all genres of gaming. But are mobile games taking over console games?
Pokemon Go and Fitness Games
On the 6th of July, 2016, Nintendo took the world by storm with the release of Pokemon Go. A new style of mobile game that made use of its most popular franchise to get people outside and active. The game used maps of the real world to function. As players walked around, their character would move on the map and encounter new pokemon, gyms, and pokestops.
This meant, to progress in the game, you needed to be active and moving. And this encouraged millions of people to become more fit. Since the only way to get high level pokemon go accounts was to be on the move, the game was well received by a lot of national governments as well. And this, in turn, encouraged more companies to turn their hand toward making fitness based games. Warner Brothers commissioned a Harry Potter game, and Minecraft World was popular for a short while too.
Competing With Consoles
Fitness based games weren’t the only reason mobile gaming was becoming more popular. One of the main reasons it was becoming a success was due to the fact that getting a mobile phone was far cheaper than buying a new console or a gaming PC. And, most importantly, a lot of the younger generations were getting their first mobile phone long before they got their first console.
Not only that but mobile gaming was far more accessible to non-gamers as well. For example, there is very little chance someone from the older generations would be buying a new Xbox. But, as we have seen from its incredible popularity, Candy Crush was loved by millions of people from all age ranges.
These factors slowly led to mobile gaming being as popular as console gaming in terms of numbers. But socially, in the gaming community at least, mobile gaming was still seen as being very uncool or ‘not proper gaming.’
Advanced Mobile Gaming
The reason that mobile gaming wasn’t taken seriously by gamers was because of the quality of mobile games. Previously the height of mobile gaming was Candy Crush or Angry Birds. Fun games. But by no means technological marvels. Mobile gaming was still limited and behind the modern gaming technology of today.
But in the last few years we have seen this change. Mobile phones are now as powerful as some computers. And, as such, can run games far more advanced than anything we have seen before. To the extent that a few major franchises now have mobile versions.
League of Legends dipped into the world of mobile gaming with Wild Rift and Team Fight Tactics. Both of these mobile apps are as good as their PC counterparts. There are also now versions of Call of Duty on mobile as well. And, of course, Minecraft has had a mobile client for some years now.
It was the rise of games like this that have pushed mobile gaming a bit further ahead of console gaming. And, if this trend continues, we might see them replace console gaming completely. But how likely is this?
The Death of Console Gaming
Will console gaming be totally killed out by mobile gaming? Experts are divided on this front. Especially because you have consoles like the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo’s popular portable console provides the best of mobile gaming with console gaming. The portability paired with the power.
But we also did see an issue with supply and demand with the PS5. Millions of hopeful gamers failed to ever get their hands on the new console due to supply problems and, most importantly, scalpers. And with the price of consoles going up, as inflation also rises, more and more people are turning away from console gaming in favor of the cheaper mobile gamer. Alternatives.
Our conclusion is that mobile gaming could very well replace console gaming. But that day is a very long way off yet.














