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If you’re one of the 3.3 billion Android or 1.5 billion iOS users out there today, you may not realize that you have in your possession not only the world’s most popular games console, but the most versatile. Mobile gaming has come a long way since the likes of Angry Birds, and now incorporates a vast selection of compelling gameplay experiences, many of which rely on cutting edge technology. On what other media can a gamer use bonuses and free offers on online casino titles, such as those provided by oddschecker, on mobile-optimized iGaming platforms one day, and fire up an Xbox Series X game—right from their browser—the next?
Smartphone gaming – illustrative photo. Image credit: Jonas Leupe via Unsplash, free license
Mobile platforms have come to serve as testbeds for every kind of innovative and disruptive current prevalent in the industry today, from Augmented and Virtual Reality, to cloud gaming and even Play-to-Earn crypto titles. Below we’re going to take a look at the various innovative, intriguing and transformational gameplay experiences users have at their disposal on their smartphones and tablets in 2023.
Table of Contents
Augmented Reality
AR-games use your phone’s camera to overlay computer-generated imagery on top of the real world. The most famous AR game to date is Pokémon Go, and developer Niantic are widely considered to be the leaders in this field. Their first major title, Ingress Prime, introduced everyone to open world GPS-based gameplay. Their newest, the basketball themed NBA All-World, continues in this vein, albeit with a greater focus on memorabilia collection and 1v1 battles.
Play-to-Earn
The play-to-earn category is full of innovative games that utilize the blockchain to create in-game tokens that can be exchanged for, or stored as, crypto currency. In effect, this means that players can literally earn money from playing, with unique quests and achievements awarding funds in much the same way as experience points in more conventional titles.
Virtual Reality
VR glasses – illustrative photo. Image credit: Remy Gieling via Unsplash, free license
Whereas AR super-imposes visuals on top of the real world, VR is responsible for fully immersive fictional environments. VR gaming on mobile is a key growth area, with Google Cardboard and Samsung’s Gear VR serving as catalysts for development and as proof-of-concept for future implementations. The age of widespread mobile-VR hasn’t quite arrived yet, but rest assured that the future of the metaverse will hinge on its adoption.
Cloud Gaming
The notion of a Netflix-for-games once seemed fanciful, but it’s now a reality. Amazon Luna, PS Now, Nvidia GeForce Now and the recently discontinued Google Stadia all speak to this fact. The best of the bunch at present though, is Xbox Cloud Gaming, a feature available to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
It provides instant access, and day-one releases, of headline Xbox Series X games—as well as a host of classic Xbox and PC titles. Mobile players need only a stable internet connection to dive in, circumventing the requirement to even own a console.
Mobile Casino Gaming
The global online casino industry has seen substantial growth over the past decade. Recent changes in legislation around the globe—most notably in the form of the repeal of PASPA in the United States, has led to more people playing digital versions of table classics on their smart devices than ever before.
With a CAGR estimated to be around 11.7% until 2030, this trend will likely continue, and we will see the mobile sector increasingly come to represent the most valuable market for iGaming, outpacing brick-and-mortar and desktop PCs in the coming years.
Free-to-Play
At first glance, you may suppose that free-to-play games are the same as freemium titles, but this is not so. While the latter typically locks core features and gameplay progression behind a paywall, free-to-play games offer the entire base game upfront for free.
They’re able to do this because they make their money through the sale of customization microtransactions. This lets those who want to splash the cash to give their character some flair and personality do so, without unduly penalizing free players.
Curated Game Catalogues
Increasingly in 2023 we’re seeing curation take center stage. With so many games out there now, people are increasingly eager to cut through the noise and play only the best titles on offer.
This is what platforms like Apple Arcade hope to achieve. It represents a collection of the best and most critically acclaimed games available on the app store, and gives players complete access to all 200+ of these, for just one low-cost monthly subscription.
What’s more, Apple Arcade is beginning to offer a greater number of unique subscriber titles, and this could well give rise to something akin to the streaming wars we see playing out between major OTT platforms like Disney+ and Netflix.
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