PC or console? These were the two choices to pick from if you were interested in esport until recently. But now mobile gaming has arrived on the scene and it is determined to leave its mark.
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Mobile Gaming in Esport
PUBG Mobile and Clash Royale are some of the prime examples of mobile esports with dedicated teams, tournaments and fans. The differences between those and other more well-known titles like League of Legends or Counter-Strike are negligble. Sure athletes do not sit in front of monitors and instead look at their phones, but that does not make them less competitive. Instead mobile gaming has several unique advantages.
The first of these is the massive player base. As an example we can take a closer look at the German market. Roughly 71 million out of 83 million Germans own a phone, a phenomenal rate of 86%. While these numbers are not all mobile gamers according to another statistic by splendid-research.de, 37% of the population between 15 and 69 years old are playing games on their smartphone in comparison to 27% on PC and 16% on console.
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Mobile Games are improving
The second advantage is mobile gaming’s increased sophistication. For the longest time mobile gaming was just used to pass the time and had no complex gameplay at all. But as the thardware of smartphones improved, techincal limitations fell away and allowed a much higher quality in mobile titles.
BITKRAFT’s Founding General Partner Jens Hilgers has also pointed that out:
Games on touchscreen devices are becoming more similar to games on console or PC. It will be very interesting to see, how the mobile gaming market performs in the next years compared to consoles and PC.
The current upward trend is supported by a lower barrier of entry. To chase your esport dream you just need your smartphone and do not need to buy PC, console and other expensive peripherals.
The future of esports
The third and most important point in favour of mobile gaming is simple: It is the future.
The gaming and esport market is growing rapidly. Children and youths are accessing digital media earlier than ever before and grow up with them. This changes the consumer behaviour as the younger generation is much more reliant on their mobiles instead of traditional devices.
Another important factor is that the next generation of gamers grows up with different role models. Studio 71’s CEO Sebastian Romanus said the following at the BMW Esports Boost:
In the past kids wanted to become footballers. Now they want to be esport pros or influencers.
Due to the improving quality of mobile games and early pioneers that have established mobile in esports like PUBG Mobile or Clash Royale, children start their venture into the industry. This results in the wish to become esport athlete, content creator or influencer.
And this will in turn grow the mobile gaming sector by quite a lot.
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