The global gaming market follows an upward trend in terms of the number of players and its total revenue. There are over 2 billion gamers worldwide, and its value was $167.9 billion in 2020, while 45% of that revenue comes from mobile gaming. Furthermore, it's expected the gaming market's worth to hit $287.1 billion by 2026. The popularity of mobile gaming definitely fuels this unprecedented growth.

Why Is Mobile Gaming a New Phenomenon
Why Is Mobile Gaming a New Phenomenon Pixabay

Actually, it's estimated that the mobile gaming market will reach $121.5 billion by 2022. So, it's safe to say that this gaming phenomenon is taking over the global gaming industry. Let's take a look at the factors that elevated the status of mobile gaming.

Hyper-Casual Games

As we mentioned earlier, there is an enormous audience that has mobile devices, and most of them are not invested in gaming as a serious gamer is. They play mobile games on the way to work, in cafes, or parks, and see it as a way to pass the time.

So, in other words, most of them don't treat it as a hobby. Hence, there is a rise in popularity of hyper-casual games that are specifically designed to provide instant entertainment, as they have basic mechanics, and anyone can start playing without spending too much time learning about the game.

Accessibility of Mobile Games

There are approximately 2.87 billion users worldwide, which is a much higher number than owners of computers or gaming consoles. Actually, over 50% of the global population owns a smartphone. This means that for a huge number of people it is much more convenient to play games on their mobile devices.

Great examples are online casino sites that have leveraged this growth. In fact, most reputable casino sites have developed a significant mobile presence by developing a mobile version of their casino site and even investing in standalone mobile apps for their platform.

The main reason for this step, of course, is the accessibility and convenience of mobile casino games for a vast number of players, but also it is easier for most players to seamlessly access their account and play their favorite casino games from any device, including mobile devices.

It's also worth mentioning that this transition in the industry would have been impossible without the support of iGaming developers that also followed this trend and created mobile-friendly casino games, including slots, poker, baccarat, and other table and live casino games accessible from mobile devices.

Investments

Due to the enormous success of certain mobile games like Pokémon Go, Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, for example, that earned huge revenue, there was an increased interest by different investors in this industry, which only further increased its growth. In fact, this sector has seen a flurry of investments, especially from already established game studios.

For example, Tencent invested $90 million in Pocket Gems, while bigger studios acquired smaller ones like Ubisoft, which acquired Ketchapp. This also meant that there is a rising amount of high-quality mobile games, and there are also a lot of mobile versions of game console titles that attracted serious gamers who now have the opportunity to play their favorite titles on the go. Some great PC games that have equally immersive mobile versions are Minecraft, Dead Cells, among many other games.