7 Reasons Why Mobile Gaming Actually Sucks

There's a batch of talk successful nan tech manufacture astir really mobile gaming is nan future. And yet, nan games that make nan apical charts connected app stores don't really thief animate overmuch assurance successful that future. At best, we get games that are bully capable to play for a mates of minutes, but ne'er to immerse ourselves profoundly successful nan communicative aliases gameplay.

But why is that? Why does mobile gaming still consciousness truthful underwhelming? Given each this bleeding-edge invention successful smartphone hardware and software, you'd expect mobile gaming to drawback up, right? Well, nan problem is unluckily measurement much nuanced than that. Here are 7 problems pinch mobile gaming we are yet to solve.

1. Paid Mobile Games Don't Sell Well

One large quality betwixt console gaming and mobile gaming is their business model. While nan erstwhile comes pinch an up-front cost, nan freemium exemplary dominates nan latter.

According to a Statista report, only astir 3 percent of each mobile games connected nan Google Play Store transportation a fee. Similar is nan lawsuit pinch nan Apple App Store.

People conscionable don't for illustration to salary for mobile games, and nan uncommon ones that really do, salary mostly via in-app purchases and microtransactions. So, it forces crippled developers to either conform to that exemplary aliases instrumentality pinch console gaming.

Now, we're not saying nan freemium exemplary isn't profitable. In fact, according to Business Insider, PUBG Mobile earned astir $254 cardinal successful subordinate spending successful November 2021 alone.

But nan problem pinch nan freemium exemplary is that it's not suitable for making big-budget console-level games. It's excessively risky for developers to put truthful overmuch clip and money creating a high-end mobile game, successful nan vain dream that group mightiness salary for it later... aft playing it for free.

2. App Store Algorithms Only Favor Top Charts

We tin spot portion of nan blasted for mobile gaming being truthful lacking connected really app stores shape their directories. To springiness you immoderate perspective, according to different Statista report location are astir 2.6 cardinal apps connected nan Google Play Store and almost 2 cardinal apps connected nan Apple App Store.

A further Statista report states that betwixt 11-13.5% of these apps are games, pinch nan Google Play Store unsocial carrying 477,877 progressive crippled titles successful December 2021.

This intends if you're a crippled developer—especially a caller one—the chances of your crippled succeeding are very low. Forget opinionated retired from nan oversea of apps. It's a occurrence if you moreover get discovered. And app stores do small to thief caller developers get seen.

When searching for an app, astir group conscionable prime 1 from nan items astatine nan apical of nan list. And because of this, winners support winning and losers support losing.

There is nary existent inducement for app stores to support developers different than nan ones who are earning them nan astir revenue. This discourages caller developers from taking connected nan consequence of creating amended mobile games.

3. Low Consumer Expectations

On immoderate level, we nan users are besides responsible for mobile gaming having a bad image. Unless you've ne'er been connected Reddit, you cognize that group often knock mobile gaming for not being "real gaming" owed to reasons that are excessively evident to ignore.

Gamers don't moreover expect mobile games to beryllium good, truthful it does not astonishment them erstwhile nan games move retired to beryllium bad.

Mobile gaming is seen arsenic an expendable root of entertainment—something that you tin waste and acquisition distant easy for thing else. So naturally, users don't fuss complaining erstwhile a mobile crippled is bad. In different words, location is nary existent feedback mechanism.

Most group simply uninstall an app if they don't for illustration it and instal different one, hoping it won't beryllium arsenic overmuch of a disappointment. This is not nan lawsuit pinch PC aliases console gaming.

The gaming organization is very delicate to nan hobby and actively seeks retired improvements and bug fixes, and makes its suggestions heard truthful that developers tin create amended games.

As sadistic arsenic immoderate antagonistic reviews tin be, they are adjuvant for spotting errors. For mobile games, that level of passion and committedness simply doesn't exist.

4. Poor Touchscreen Controls

Unless you bargain a dedicated gaming telephone pinch enarthrosis buttons (such arsenic nan Black Shark 4 we reviewed), regular smartphones simply can't compete pinch nan likes of a console controller. All nan controls of a mobile crippled person to beryllium crammed wrong nan very constricted surface property of nan device.

Given this limitation, those controls often extremity up being either painfully mini aliases truthful large that they interrupt gameplay—leading to a mediocre gaming experience. To antagonistic this, devs person to walk further resources coming up pinch caller ways to make nan controls consciousness seamless.

5. Lack of Storage to Dedicate to Games

Unlike consoles, smartphones don't conscionable shop games but besides photos, videos, songs, movies, documents, apps, and more. So naturally, retention abstraction is often an issue. Now, to beryllium fair, we've already seen smartphones pinch 1TB of retention space, truthful this isn't arsenic large a problem arsenic nan issues above.

However, because a higher retention abstraction besides intends a higher price, nan only phones that tin return advantage of this are flagships. And since astir smartphones income aren't flagships but fund and mid-range phones, nan advantage of higher retention abstraction becomes redundant.

6. Lack of Standardized Platforms

Unlike standardized consoles specified arsenic PlayStation and Xbox, smartphones travel successful each shapes, sizes, and configurations. This is existent moreover much truthful for Android phones than iPhones.

Since location are less variants of iPhones successful nan world, they are much standardized and easier to create apps for. That's why developers often merchandise apps and updates connected iOS first.

Since smartphones are truthful chopped from 1 different (thanks to truthful galore competitors), it's excessively ample an undertaking to person developers optimize their games according to each device.

So, this leaves them pinch only 2 options; either create mediocre games that everyone tin download aliases create bully games that only a fewer tin download. It seems nan erstwhile gets nan precocious manus successful boardroom meetings.

7. Frequent In-Game Ads

Aside from microtransactions, mobile crippled developers besides trust connected in-game ads to gain money. This allows them to support nan crippled moving and present caller features specified arsenic maps, weapons, outfits, and different akin in-game items.

However, arsenic a gamer, it really sucks to person to watch an advertisement each azygous clip aft completing a race, finishing a match, aliases opening a loot box. On apical of that, these ads tin sometimes beryllium irrelevant and inappropriate, and there's nary measurement to tweak them either.

Granted, watching in-game ads is simply a bully measurement to support mobile crippled developers without buying in-game items, but their wave matters a batch particularly if you're readying to play that crippled for a agelong time.

Mobile Gaming Could Be So Much More

Mobile gaming has truthful overmuch potential, and yet, we're exploiting truthful small of it. Compared to each nan different advancements successful nan tech world, it's astonishing really acold down mobile gaming still is erstwhile put side-by-side pinch console gaming.

Out of each companies, Apple has nan astir to summation if mobile gaming booms fixed its evident advantage complete Android. And yet, low-immersion games for illustration Candy Crush and Temple Run predominate nan app stores. Many still dainty mobile gaming arsenic simply a measurement to walk time, not arsenic an acclaimed hobby aliases profession.