Will Mobile Gaming Surpass Traditional Gaming in 2025?
Over the last few years, gaming trends have evolved to reflect a preference among players for mobile options. While the face is gaming is still handheld consoles and the like, roughly half of all gaming revenue comes from mobile titles. Think of the games downloaded from app stores and the like.
A look at the money being brought in by titles like Clash of Clans and Even Candy Crush makes it clear that the tides are turning. But as the gaming industry is set to see even more growth in 2025, will mobile gaming completely usurp the market for traditional gaming?
First, it is worth looking at the reasons why consumers turn to mobile games in the first place. There is the obvious convenience of having your gaming device always in your pockets. As stats show, many people use their devices while out and about and the likelihood of turning to your favorite mobile game to stave off boredom is high.
Then there is the fact that many mobile games have incorporated novel technologies like blockchain. One sub-niche of gaming that has really felt the impact of mobile demand is gambling, with more people playing casino games from their phones than anywhere else.
Take countries in Southeast Asia, which have shown a particular affinity for mobile gambling with cryptocurrency, which is based on blockchain technology. Gambling with cryptocurrency is especially beneficial to some because it can appreciate in value over time, offers more privacy, and so on. The privacy aspect has been an especially big draw because many consumers are reluctant to give up their sensitive details to gaming providers. As Kane Pepi writes, many opt to play at no KYC casinos in a bid to maintain this privacy. Given how much more popular cryptocurrency is these days, along with more profitable, it is likely that this trend will continue well into 2025.
It is also worth mentioning the rise of play-to-earn games, a niche of crypto gaming that rewards players with tokens for racking up achievements and engaging with various games. Titles like Hamster Kombat saw mammoth success this year and 2025 will see even more expansion in the space.
Mobile games also have an edge when it comes to mobile advertising, which is the dominant form of advertising today. When a consumer sees an ad for a mobile game, they can instantly click to download and begin playing. If it is for a non-mobile game, the pipeline from seeing the ad to playing the game is a lot less seamless and thus, could have a lower conversion rate.
Mobile games also have an edge when it comes to in-platform purchases and mobile transactions. It is virtually a cliche at this point but many mobile gamers are about to make micro-transactions and new purchases with ease thanks to resources like ApplePay and the like. This ease of purchase means that they are more likely to spend money on a mobile game than any other type of game.
Social media also plays a part in this equation as mobile games are able to tap into a wider audience via sharability. Share functions in mobile games mean that achievements can be shared with others on social media platforms with ease. This, in turn, means free advertising for the mobile games in question.
All these factors will not go anywhere in 2025. In fact, mobile phone use, digital advertising, blockchain use, and others will only become more prominent and mobile gaming’s stronghold on the industry will be further intensified. This creates both challenges and opportunities for traditional gaming companies.
On the one hand, more and more of their market share will likely be captured by the mobile gaming sector and newer companies whose bread-and-butter is traditional gaming might struggle. On the other hand, traditional gaming companies might choose to diversify and get in on the mobile gaming boom. The infrastructure and consumer demand is already there and some might find that their audience will be happy to pivot with them.
Finally, traditional gaming will always exist in some sense of the word and consumers will only have more choice of which they want to spend on.