Mobile games have been around for decades, even if not in the form we know today. The first truly successful mobile game was Snake, a simple piece of software built into several Nokia models released after 1997 – almost exactly a decade before the launch of the iPhone. The game was simple, easy to learn, and came with a never-before-seen function: it was capable of a simple form of multiplayer over an infrared connection. No doubt, it has contributed to the success of Nokia’s phones in a time when mobile gaming was only taking its baby steps.
In the coming years, mobile games have become more widespread, but still mostly considered to be a novelty – the limited hardware capabilities of the times’ handsets, as well as the slow, unreliable internet connection (not many handsets had WiFi back then) were also factors that limited the growth of the mobile gaming industry.
Things have changed, though, with the release of the first “smartphone” as we know it today, the iPhone, the first step on a way to Pokemon GO, All Slots casino online games, and mobile becoming the biggest slice of the global gaming market.
The rise of the App
The iPhone was one of the most important steps in the smartphone’s evolution. It got rid of the physical keyboard and the stylus, and came with an easy-to-use interface, making it an instant hit among users, and an example followed by the competition. It also opened up a new world in front of developers, giving birth to a whole new branch of the gaming industry: mobile. In just a decade, mobile gaming has outgrown desktop and console games, becoming the most profitable branch of the gaming industry.
Real money gaming has also broken into the mobile world, but it couldn’t take the same route as classic gaming – the limitations imposed by the leading app marketplaces left it with no choice but to innovate. Thus, the All Slots Mobile, a browser-based gaming interface has been created, and it has proven to be quite successful.
Although only a handful of years have passed since its launch, the All Slots Mobile now has a library of over 130 mobile games, with new ones added to it each month. Since it’s not a native app, the All Slots Mobile doesn’t show up in the stats, but it too proves that mobile has become the new norm in gaming.
What the numbers say
To see how strong mobile gaming has become in the last few years, let’s look at some numbers.
According to gaming intelligence company Newzoo, mobile has taken the lead from PC gaming this year, generating 27% of the global revenue of the gaming industry. In the coming years, the mobile gaming industry’s lead is expected to grow, reaching 34% by 2019, and overtaking consoles in the process. Mobile is the gaming device of choice for most users – according to SurveyMonkey Intelligence, over 60% of smartphone owners install at least one game on their phone in the first week after the purchase. With over 2 billion active smartphones out there (and rising), this means a massive player base that’s continuously increasing.
