The Mobile Gaming Industry is Ripe for Disruption
An article on Forbes, written by a budding entrepreneur, highlights the aspects that can help us identify the industries that are ripe for disruption. It talks about how, among other things, research-backed data is what actually helps to pinpoint the aspects that call for revolutionary changes.
How about the mobile gaming industry? Ripe for disruption?
Proliferation of Online and Mobile Gaming
According to PwC, the social and casual gaming sector is going to surpass traditional gaming with significantly higher growth through 2021, at a CAGR of 11.9%, to reach a market value of US$374 billion. This social and casual gaming sector refers to the high-quality games people are playing on their smartphones and tablets, while they commute for work and education every day.
Social and casual gaming is thriving upon the increased number of high-end devices being released in the market. With these devices, users gain increased access to gaming, thereby creating a huge digital distribution base.
A report by Accenture highlights that due to this digital distribution, consumers are now expecting a dynamic and responsive entertainment experience. People are looking for more immersive and personalized interactions on their wide, bezel-less, HD screens, superb pixel densities, robust camera output and high-performing processor units that can support longer play times.
Hence, game developers are not just confronted with an evolving consumer base, but also a renewed definition of online gaming itself.
Multiple Device Access
The days of gaming being restricted to PC consoles and desktops are long gone now. According to an article on Inc.com, the fact that everything from PCs to smart TVs and smartphones are now connected to the internet by default, opens up huge opportunities for developers to indulge in specific kinds of projects, which was not possible earlier.
All the popular PC console games are now being adopted in formats compatible with these devices. Research by Nielsen has concluded that mobile games are the most popular type of apps for smartphone users. Just a few years ago, in 2011, 64% users were downloading games on their smartphones. In May 2018, mobile gaming apps accounted for the highest number of app downloads for both Apple Store and Amazon AppStore, according to BusinessOfApps.
Changing Consumer Demographics
The average age of gamers today is 31 years and there is a significant number of players above the age of 36 than there are between the ages 18 and 35. This is a huge change in demographic as compared to just over a decade ago, when online games on PC consoles were popular among young adults and kids above the age of 10 or 11. But guess what? They grew up, and with them grew the thirst for more options in gaming and associated technology. The gender-related bias is also going out the window today.
In 2009, researchers had found a gender imbalance in gaming, where men spending more time on games led to their social isolation and dissatisfaction among women. Today, the gender imbalance has reduced. In 2017, 15% of the gaming population consisted of adult women in the age-group of 21–35, compared to the 20% of men. The lack of social interaction is not associated with gaming anymore; particularly with the rise in multiplayer games.
Sgame Pro™, a leading mobile game aggregator, is enabling players to play traditional single-player games in asynchronous multi-player formats, to support this evolving consumer base, where both men and women can participate and build an online gaming community.
Founder and CEO, Gip Cutrino, remarks, “While single-player games can be found in plenty in the market, it is the multi-player games domain that accounts for greater revenues and player engagement metrics. But network latency issues and other technical challenges have so far prevented developers and publishers from venturing into the space.”
This is the problem that the Sgame Pro™ aims to solve through its blockchain-based platform, which rewards players for playing their favourite games online, while giving publishers an opportunity to monetize their creations.
To know more, visit sgamepro.io and follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.