The Growth of Mobile Gaming

Words by Gabriel Pe

Gaming has played a massive part in my life. It drove my interest in tech and, eventually, esports. As a gamer, I have followed how gaming has evolved over time and how technology has been a massive force behind it.

In the early Atari days, memory and processing power allowed only limited gameplay. The rise of Nintendo and the 8-bit NES revolutionized home consoles. GameBoy inspired a generation of kids to love games. The arrival of PlayStation and Xbox sparked a new generation of console wars. Now we have the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X/S, and PC gaming, all vying for ultra-realistic graphics and complex gameplay.

But alongside the PCs and consoles, there was another device that had its own gaming revolution — the mobile phone. Mobile games have kept us entertained, from the old Snake game on your Nokia phones, to the days of Cut the Rope, Temple Run, and Angry Birds, to the current score of amazing titles like Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, and esports titles like Mobile Legends and Wild Rift.

More powerful and optimized devices

One of the primary reasons mobile gaming has amassed a huge following is the rise of more powerful smartphones. In the last couple of years, smartphones have changed. Smartphones are becoming even smarter and more powerful. The newest iPhone 15 Pro Max is capable enough to run console games without any porting whatsoever. Google’s upcoming Pixel 8 Pro is a computing powerhouse with its built-in generative AI models.

As the saying goes, “The smartphone within your pocket is exponentially more powerful than the computer NASA used to send the Apollo 11 to the moon.”

Smartphone processors have gotten so powerful that the smartphone you had two-three years ago would pale in comparison to the newest generation. At the same time, all that power has also trickled down to reasonably priced devices. You can have a pretty great gaming experience with a smartphone that’s around PHP12,000 – PHP20,000. Even cheaper smartphones can give you a decent gaming performance, though not all games are optimized for them.

Aside from raw power, the improvement of online connectivity has also greatly impacted mobile gaming. As LTE has finally become the standard and 5G rapidly covering the whole country, mobile connectivity is the fastest it has ever been. This fast connection speed has opened the gates for multiplayer gaming on mobile devices unlike ever before. Developers have also taken advantage of faster connectivity speeds to create new games and improve gameplay that fully utilizes the technology.

Accessibility of smartphones and games

One of the greatest reasons why mobile gaming has gained this much popularity is its accessibility. Based on a Statista report there were more than 80 million smartphone users in the country, with that number expected to grow even higher in the next couple of years.

As I explained earlier, smartphones have also gotten more powerful over the years. While not all smartphones are powerful enough to run all games, many are still capable of running fun and engaging games. Most mobile games have a simple concept and objectives and can be picked up by anyone – Candy Crush, Pokemon Go, are just some examples of simple games that have dominated the mobile gaming space since their release.

For the more competitive gamers, there are games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and League of Legends: Wild Rift (more on these later) that offer the same competitive level as that of similar genre PC games. Games like these also typically have shorter match durations than their PC counterparts letting players enjoy more games in the same period. That shorter time is a massive perk for the working Filipino who just wants a quick pick-me-up during his short mid-day breaks.

The contribution and growth of Mobile Esports

Another massive contributor to the shift towards mobile gaming is the growth of mobile esports.

Mobile esports come in many forms from the various genres of games available. There are shooters like Supercell’s Brawl Stars, Battle Royales like PlayerUnknown’s Battleground Mobile (PUBG: Mobile), and Garena’s Call of Duty: Mobile. However, the most popular are the Massive Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) such as Mobile Legends, and Wild Rift.

Similar to how esports titles have dominated the PC and Console world, mobile esports has become a primary driving force in mobile gaming’s popularity. Esports have taken the gaming world by storm, with more and more developers following the path of creating competitive games with boundless “replay-ability” on top of a single-story narrative. The age of streaming has also greatly helped the rise of esports and competitive gaming, as many tuned in to watch pro players elevate the games they love.

Mobile esports is no different than PC or console esports, most mobile esports titles have PC as their inspiration. That said, they also offer something more than their PC counterparts, and that is a growing user base. Mobile Gaming is one of the fastest-growing competitive scenes in the world. Southeast Asia and China are the two biggest regions driving the said growth.

Mobile esports are on the rise for different reasons. A significant reason is the well-optimized games. Most mobile esports titles are optimized for various phones, even entry-level phones. They are also easily accessible, in the sense that you don’t need to spend money to enjoy the game, and additional purchases are usually mere cosmetics. Finally, there’s the fact that mobile esports are becoming one of the most viewed esports in the world.

Based on Esports Charts, an analytics provider especially looking at esports, three of the top five most viewed esports tournaments of all time are mobile titles, with Battle Royale Free Fire claiming the top spot with more than 5.4 million peak viewers for their Free Fire World Series Singapore held in 2021. The glory for the most viewed tournament for 2023 is for the Mobile Legends World Championship M4 held last January in Indonesia. It boasts a massive 4.2 million peak viewers and is currently the third most-viewed esports tournament in history according to Esports chart. Beyond the World Championship, Mobile Legends has continued to break viewership records for its regional leagues and expects that the number to continue to rise as it nears the crescendo of its 2023 season.

Another reason is what draws them in to play the games in the first place — a fun competitive experience. Many would play mobile games with friends as a bonding experience, others for the thrill it offers, and for some, as a career option. There’s also the fact that for younger players, smartphones are their first gaming device.

While we don’t have the concrete data and numbers of individual viewers. A personal look can hopefully suffice as a sample. Visiting the Mobile Legends Pro League–Philippines during its regular season, I saw that the vast majority of viewers were Gen Zs and millennials. Though there were older folk in the crowd, you really can’t say if they were parents of a player or genuine fans. Surprisingly the gender is pretty balanced as well, unlike the early days of esports when it was predominantly male audience — a step in the right direction.

What draws audiences to watching esports is varied. Some watch after being influenced by a favorite streamer or influencer. Another reason is what draws them in to play the games in the first place — a fun competitive experience.

Many would play mobile games with friends as a bonding experience, others for the thrill it offers, and for some, as a career option. There’s also the fact that for younger players, smartphones are their first gaming device.

I remember what sparked my interest in gaming was the fact that we had a computer at home and a PlayStation console. Later I was fortunate enough to be given a GameBoy Advance, which only boosted my interest in gaming. As mobile games grow, so will a generation of gamers that start with smartphones as their first gaming experience. If we follow that trend, then I can only be excited about what game developers can come up with for our smartphones.