Mobile gaming has changed the face of the gaming world in the last two years. With over billions of people owning a smartphone around the world, mobile games have become an accessible and widespread form of entertainment. Titles like Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, and PUBG Mobile have garnered millions, if not billions, of players, making mobile gaming one of the most lucrative sectors in the entertainment industry. This fast growth has sparked heated debate: are mobile games killing traditional gaming? This begins by first trying to discern what sets mobile games apart from other gaming. Then there is the question of its impact on the gaming community and whether it really heralds the death of console and PC gaming.

Attractive Benefits of Mobile Games

Mobile games present numerous benefits that appeal to audiences of all levels. One of the biggest advantages these possess is accessibility. Smartphones are ubiquitous, and in-app mobile games are often free to download while having the option to pay extra when in-app purchases are chosen, for those who wish to improve their experience. All this means that any person with a smartphone can jump into a game at a given time, whether waiting on a commute, for a scheduled appointment, or in a break from work. It is indeed true that having a game library in your pocket has changed the way people play video games.

Another positive feature of mobile games is that they are short and easy to understand. Most of the mobile titles are built with the ability to be played in shorter, bite-sized sessions. This is ideal for grabbing and putting back down, with no time to waste. For example, Angry Birds or Temple Run are examples of games made to be short and fun to play, but console and PC games can require hours to play through.

Mobile games have also penetrated markets and demographics that old-fashioned gaming could not. The Pokémon Go games brought gaming into a community of people who never thought they would be gamers, while FarmVille games attracted a more casual noncompetitive crowd. Mobile games' lower entrance barriers cause a massive expansion of the gaming community among older players, casual gamers, and people who do not own traditional gaming consoles.

The dominance of traditional gaming

Though the world of gaming is growing extremely with mobile games, it still relies largely on the older generations: console and PC gaming. The console experience through the PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch brings much better fidelity graphics, far more complex gameplay, and a lot richer narratives than in mobile gaming. For instance, aesthetic and mechanical details that define titles like The Last of Us Part II, Red Dead Redemption 2, or Cyberpunk 2077 can only be seen in more traditional games.
In contrast, console and PC games generally have more depth and scope of worlds, graphics, and systems of play. Controllers and peripherals used along with the traditional gaming cannot match the level of precision and responsiveness in mobile gaming. For action-heavy or competitive games, there are several examples that are way more fun to be played on consoles or PCs because they allow using a mouse and keyboard or a better controller for greater control in a game such as first-person shooters, real-time strategy games, and RPGs.

A significant feature is the richer and diverse experience of games in a traditional platform. Most of the single-player, story-driven games and massive open-world games and competitive multiplayer games tend to have a more advanced narrative and detailed system compared to most of what most mobile games can have. Most serious gamers will always perceive this as the main content that makes games-gaming should be entertaining, immersive, and engaging with long time periods. The number of contents and longevity in the game outshines what most mobile games have to offer.

The Impact of Mobile Games on Traditional Gaming

Although it is evident that the world of mobile gaming is booming, this doesn't mean that the traditional gaming industry has died. In fact, it is in a coexistence and plays to a different crowd and serves to a different purpose. Mobile games did not kill the console or PC game; however, they did take the overall gaming industry to a higher level of magnitude.

Another aspect in which mobile games are altering the traditional game is the introduction of new mechanics and business models. The free-to-play model that gained popularity through mobile devices has begun to infiltrate console and PC markets. For instance, Fortnite and Apex Legends use the same microtransaction model to unlock further content by way of cosmetic items or battle passes. It has resulted in massive revenues and fundamentally shifted how the world develops and monetizes games on all platforms.

This success of mobile games also made traditional gaming companies change. For example, Nintendo's Pokémon Go was a massive hit that combined mobile gaming with the old franchise of Pokémon. That cross-platform appeal has proven that mobile games can work with and not compete against traditional games. Today, many game developers are developing mobile games as mobile versions of popular console games or completely new games tailored for a smartphone.

Mobile games are not killing traditional gaming, but evolving it.
While killing the traditional games was not what mobile games were supposed to do, it has altered the face of gaming by promoting innovation and increasing access to the medium. It introduced a new generation of players, some of whom would eventually play the more complex games on the consoles or PCs. Games such as Fortnite and Minecraft highlight how the overlap of communities from both mobile and traditional gaming may occur. Cross-platform play is a feature where users from different devices interact within the same game world.

Moreover, with cloud gaming services like Google Stadia, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Nvidia GeForce Now, mobile gaming is slowly closing the difference between this more traditional sort of gaming. They enable gamers to view high-definition console streaming right through their mobile devices and therefore they can get the best of two worlds, the rich experience that a traditional game brings while having portability.

Conclusion:

No doubt, mobile gaming changed the industry, but it did not kill the traditional one. Instead, it opened a new audience to games and their development on all platforms. Traditional gaming, consoles and PCs, still represents experiences that mobile games cannot provide, such as for those seeking a more profound and immersive play. Rather than viewing mobile games as competition for the traditional way of gaming, they should be viewed as a complement to it. Both platforms give an experience unique to each and, together, they represent the vast, changing world of gaming.