August 3, 2023, 6:47 am | Read time: 5 minutes

According to current statistics, the smartphone has long surpassed other media like PCs and consoles as the most popular gaming platform. Nevertheless, our editor Adrian Mühlroth thinks that the so-called “Golden Era” for mobile games is actually over. This has sparked some intense reactions in our editorial team and initiated a discussion.

Watch the TECH-Talk here in the video:

“Everything is just pay-to-win” – Adrian Mühlroth, TECHBOOK Editor

Nowadays, all games are just pay-to-win and are only about logging in every day, collecting rewards, and repeating the same routines over and over.

I grew up with mobile games. When I bought my first Android smartphone and an iPod Touch in 2009/2010, the first real 3D games for mobile platforms appeared. The significant performance leaps from year to year led to games rapidly improving, with increasingly detailed graphics and complex gameplay. I remember the first Modern Combat, Nova, and Gangstar games from the French studio Gameloft.

The three series are modeled after Call of Duty, Halo, and GTA. The studio tried everything back then: from special mobile versions of The Settlers, Assassin’s Creed, Terminator, and Brothers in Arms, a tie-in game for Splinter Cell Conviction, to the Uncharted knockoff Shadow Guardian, and even a 1-to-1 port of Prince of Persia Warrior Within – it was incredible to me that such things were even possible. And that was in 2010 – where are the ports of full-fledged PC games for Android and iOS today?

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Mobile games used to be more like PC games

After the initial successes, many more high-quality games followed. Many popular Lego games received mobile-optimized versions, and even Max Payne was ported to the iPhone. Both Thor and Spider-Man and Batman got their own games. Rockstar gradually made its three 3D classics GTA 3, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas available for Android and iOS. However, we reached the peak between 2013 and 2016 with three of my absolute favorite mobile titles. One was Deus Ex: The Fall, a spin-off of the excellent video game series. It was supposed to be the first of many parts – but sequels never appeared.

Additionally, Assassin’s Creed Identity, also a spin-off of the spectacular Ezio trilogy. Admiring Florence and Forlì from rooftops on a 5-inch screen – there was nothing better back then. Lastly, there was Call of Duty: Strike Team – the first COD for mobile. The game even has some advantages over today’s PC titles, as you could switch between drone and FPS views.

I still have these old games installed on my first-generation iPad mini to play them from time to time. Because on modern hardware and with newer operating systems, the titles are no longer compatible and will eventually disappear.

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“The mobile games industry is booming” – Marlene Polywka, TECHBOOK Editor

It probably depends on how you define “Golden Era.” If you look at the pure facts, the industry is doing better than ever. The market has been growing for years. The positive perception of mobile games, which have often long since moved away from the niche of “mindless casual gaming,” also affects the gaming industry in general. The pandemic further fueled this trend.

The mobile device has been the undisputed number one in the gaming sector for several years, which is certainly also due to its availability. A console or even a gaming PC simply costs significantly more to purchase. Although high-end gaming smartphones are now quite expensive, they still don’t compare to a PC. It was only in 2022 that slightly declining numbers were observed in the sector again – experts also indirectly attribute this to the pandemic.

Mobile games have reached the masses

What generally contributes to this is that the first generation of gamers is also getting older, but the younger generation is also very strong. The target audience is therefore much broader than it was a few years or even decades ago. If you look at the eSports sector, the positive development is clearly visible. The larger target groups also lead to a larger audience, ergo more money in the leagues. This is increasingly professionalizing the mobile games market. This is also evident in the range of games – there are more and more, and above all, increasingly high-quality content. Developers are also becoming more creative in earning money.

The smartphone medium is being used more creatively. Whether it’s story games with weekly chapters, map-based games like “Pokémon GO,” or mobile versions of larger titles – the variety is immense. The technically less demanding platform also opens up entirely new and lower-threshold opportunities for creative indie developers.

We sometimes have a very German perspective on the whole thing; in other countries, mobile gaming is booming even more, such as in Brazil. This also has something to do with the exorbitant prices for technology. As long as smartphones are an integral part of our daily lives, I believe mobile games will be too. And as long as the industry is doing so well, there will always be more good and creative new content.

What do you think? Let us know your opinion on the topic and vote!