Games have been around right from the time when computers arrived. The first video game was invented in 1958 by a Physicist William Higinbotham. Since then, video games have evolved and now you can dive into the world of gaming using VR.
Video games ever growing at a steady pace until the dawn of the mobile devices. Mobile devices put video games in the hands of everyone and there was a sudden increase in the number of people playing games.
Let’s try to understand this with some trends
Gaming market before mobile games
Gaming market share was divided between Arcade games, PC games and console games before mobile games. Arcade games held the biggest share of the gaming industry. Slowly with the improvement in technology and reduction in cost of gaming hardware, arcade games started to die down and disappeared in the early 2000s.
| Year | Platform |
|---|---|
| Start to 1980s | Arcade and Consoles |
| 1980-2000 | Arcade, console and PC |
| 2000-2006 | PC and Console |
| 2006-2021 | PC, Console and Mobile |
In 2021, mobile games have 60 percent of market share.
Mobile has changed the way we game
No matter what type of gaming system you have the only constrain was the mobility of the system. Be it arcade, console or PC, you cannot play a game while on the move. You need to settle down to play video games.
This is what mobile devices changed. We can play games while in office, while waiting in a queue or even in the restroom. This ability was limited due to the type of games that were majorly played. You cannot play call of duty while waiting in a queue.
This led to the invention of hyper casual games. This brought more addiction to mobile games and the freemium model added to it skyrocketed the revenue of mobile games.
How mobile games have changed the gamers
Earlier only hardcore games were the main contributors to gaming industry but with mobile games everyone play game. You can almost find one game in all mobile devices. Not just that the number of female games and children playing games have also increased drastically.
Now in 2021, gaming is not for the hardcore gamers. It’s for everyone. Even though VR and AR technology are trying to change the gaming industry, Mobile games are going to be the industry leaders.
Is it a healthy growth?
In terms of availability of technology, we are at the era where the technology is available even to the low-income group. But the change this technology has brought to our lives is not as healthy. It’s great to play games, but it’s not great when you set aside important daily jobs to play games. Mobile games have increased the number of gaming addicts and the numbers are not healthy.
We cannot blame technology for our lifestyle. We need to take control of our lives.