Mobile gaming today is a huge industry – in fact, over the past two decades it has quietly assumed the mantle of being the dominant driving force in the global $300 billion video game market.
It’s easy to understand how this happened. For one, the advent of the modern smartphone had an enormous impact on the way people interact with tech, let alone games.
Suddenly, people had a device that was with them at all times that could accomplish the tasks once reserved for a huge array of hardware – from cameras to computers, televisions to gameboys. This had the effect of onboarding a huge number of new people into the joys of video games.
Previously, the bar was set quite high for would-be gamers as they would either have to purchase or otherwise access a costly piece of dedicated gaming hardware like a console, or else make do with whatever small online titles they could find.
Now, casual gamers need only search the Google Play Store or iOS App Store to encounter literally millions of games. What’s more, as these devices grew more powerful, and game developers became more familiar with the mobile platform, the quality, ambition and scale of the games available soon came to rival the best you could find on a modern home games console.
Nowadays, there are even dedicated gaming phones designed to optimize this delightful state of affairs, and mobile esports represent the fastest growing segment of the 2020s competitive gaming boom. But what if we told you, in spite of all of this, you probably weren’t making the most of your smartphone as a gaming device today?
Yet this is probably true, and it’s down to the existence of official app stores. These catalogues of apps are the primary way people interact with their devices to acquire, access and install new software – but they come with some drawbacks.
From having to filter out hundreds of clone titles, to being unable to access certain game types at all on them, those gamers wanting the best from their phones would do well to explore beyond their horizons.
HTML5 Browser Titles
Once upon a time, browser games were one of the only options available to gamers with sites like Newgrounds serving as portals to a huge array of exciting indie titles. With all the excitement of the smartphone revolution, people tend to forget that these platforms never went away – even in spite of the loss of Macromedia Flash, since replaced by HTML5.
Yet there are so many unique gameplay experiences available on your smartphone that can only be accessed through your web browser. Take casino gaming as a clear example – while there are iGaming options on the app stores, they’re limited and lacking many of the features and variety people would hope for.
In truth, the best way to play in online casinos is through mobile optimized browser platforms like Vegasslotsonline which is home to thousands of unique titles. What’s more, these platforms often offer competitive welcome bonuses and sign-up offers, making them a cost-effective way to engage with this exciting space.
Cloud Gaming
You may not have heard of cloud gaming – yet. Simply put, it’s a segment of the modern games industry that is eagerly looking to do for gaming what Netflix did for DVDs. That’s because cloud gaming platforms stream real time gameplay content to your device.
This has a number of benefits. For one, as the processing is done on remote servers, this means you can play much more powerful games than your smartphone would be able to run itself – we’re talking genuine triple-A titles, all playable from your iPhone or Android device.
What’s more, cloud gaming offers unparalleled accessibility and crossplay features. For example, imagine you’re playing Halo Infinite on your Xbox Series X at home, but want to continue playing on your lunch break at work. In such a circumstance, nothing is theoretically stopping you firing up Xbox Cloud Gaming in the staff room and picking up where you left off.
There are still some bugs to iron out to get cloud gaming working optimally, but suffice to say it already represents a seismic leap in quality for mobile gaming, and one that will soon revolutionize the industry.