Video games are worth more than ever before. In 2020 the gaming industry surged to be worth more than the North American movies and sports industries combined. How video games reached this point has been a mix of many factors, such as every console becoming an all-encompassing at-home entertainment box and most everyone being stuck at home in 2020 with nothing better to do. However, the explosion of the game industry is very real and is only going to continue, especially as it continues to enter a market that is slowly making up more and more of its profits: Mobile games.
Mobile gaming accounted for 50 percent of video game profits in 2020 and the reasons why are pretty obvious. There are way more people with smartphones than people with consoles and that market is one that is extremely ripe with opportunity. At the moment the large majority of games on phones follow a similar design philosophy: Make something that is free, replayable, addictive, and has microtransactions. Give players an incentive to spend real money on their game and they will. Unfortunately, this has led to a lot of mobile games, while lucrative, feeling very shallow.
There is a huge potential in the mobile games market and its one that many industry giants are beginning to recognize. EA released The Simpsons Tapped Out in 2012 and it made $100 million by 2013. Square Enix has a couple Final Fantasy titles on there, some infamously terrible but others are well received for their creativity, and it’s the latter that gives hope for mobile gaming.
We all remember the success of Pokemon Go when it first released, but that is a title still receiving frequent updates with a hardcore player base, making $1 billion in 2020. That success may also be what sparked Nintendo to put more focus on mobile gaming. Since Pokemon Go‘s release in 2016, they’ve released Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, Dr. Mario World, and Mario Kart Tour. Unfortunately for Nintendo, most of those follow-up releases did not see nearly the same level of success as Pokemon Go did, except for Fire Emblem which had over $500 million in profits. Nintendo’s foray into the mobile market had mixed results and there are rumors they’re going to put less of an emphasis on it in the future. However, a recently announced partnership with mobile developer Niantic shows they aren’t getting out of it entirely.
Nintendo’s mixed results were still an overall success and it’s an example of how fruitful the mobile games market can be. One that is attracting PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan. Via IGN.
“We are exploring the mobile market with some wonderful PlayStation franchises so please stay tuned,” Ryan says. It’s not clear what franchises will be part of these mobile experiments or how these projects will take shape, but it seems fair to expect more mobile experiences from PlayStation in the future, as part of a push to “welcome millions of new gamers to the PlayStation family”.
Why PlayStation would be interested in investing in the mobile market makes sense. This has massive money-making potential, but it sounds like PlayStation is going to rely on the power of their IPs to carry them in mobile similar to how Nintendo has chosen to operate. Looking at Nintendo’s history, they really only had two major successes in the mobile market with Pokemon Go and Fire Emblem. No offense to any Sony fans out there, but are there any PlayStation-only IPs that carry the same weight as a Mario, Fire Emblem, or Pokemon? They’re just not on the same level with the more casual gaming base of mobile. Most fans aren’t going to be dying to play through an Uncharted or God of War story on their phones the same way they’ll jump at the chance to experience Final Fantasy or The Simpsons.
That is unless PlayStation changes the mobile market. The formula of mobile games is very basic and largely pay to win. This shallow, but effective, style of development is what makes these games as profitable as they are. It’s why even the duds end up being profitable in the end, but what if someone came in and changed that? If PlayStation comes in and tries to emulate what other companies have done they may see some profit, but they won’t see a huge success that they’re seeking out. However, if they come in and deliver mobile stories that have thousands downloading just to experience then they could completely flip the market on its head.
Mobile games when they’re creative and different can reach a group of people that largely don’t play games. Ryan did say that part of his intention is to bring new people into the “PlayStation family” and the best way to do that is to make good games, not just profitable ones. If PlayStation comes in and makes creative mobile games then this could be a chance to do something really awesome. If they just make a bunch of play to win style games similar to what Nintendo did, then don’t be surprised if we get a headline in a few years about them putting less emphasis on mobile.