Google has high hopes for mobile games
Google has been making some major announcements recently concerning its various online ventures. Last week, the company announced its intentions in the social gaming space. Google has been seeing a great deal of promise in the game industry and has adopted a focus on mobile games, which have become one of the most lucrative sectors in gaming today. Google has plans to make mobile games more social, but not to tether these games to any particular website or online space.
Google+ Games will close at the end of June
In order to keep mobile games mobile, Google has announced that it will be shutting down its Google+ Games service at the end of June this year. Google+ Games served as a platform for social games in the same way that Facebook has done for years. The platform supports games like Angry Birds, CityVille, and Triple Town, as well as various others. The platform does not align with the company’s vision of mobile games, however, and Google will be focusing its efforts on other ventures.
Developers may return unused funds in games to consumers
Those interested in continuing to play the games that were available through Google+ Games will have to contact that game’s developer. According to Google, the funds that consumers spend on these games will also be an issue that must be handled with developers. Some games will be migrating to other platforms, where unused funds will be honored by the development team. Those that will not be migrating may be inclined to returned unused funds, but there is no guarantee that this will be the case with all developers.
Google Play may draw more people to Google+
With Google+ Games coming to a close, Google is likely to put most of its attention on its Google Play service. This service is being designed specifically for mobile games and is meant to introduce social elements into this space. Google expects that this new service will help boost the adoption of its own social network, which continues to struggle to find a foothold against social networking titans like Facebook and Twitter.
Mobile games are beginning to hold sway over the game industry as a whole
The game industry is currently experience a monumental shift as a new generation of consumers and technology enter into prominent markets around the world. For the past several decades, the game industry has been solely focused on console platforms, as well as PCs. The advent of mobile technology changed that focus, however, especially as advanced smartphones and tablets became extremely popular. Mobile games have quickly become one of the most lucrative aspects of the game industry, which has encouraged developers to swarm to the mobile space in order to take advantage of this popularity.
Developers beginning to swarm the mobile space
A few short years ago, mobile games were considered little more than novelty. They have, however, become one of the most successful fields in the game industry. Consumers around the world have shown that they are exceedingly interested in mobile games of all types, sinking hours upon hours of their times into games like Angry Birds and Temple Run. As these games find more and more traction among consumers, a growing number of developers are breaking away from publishers in order to establish their independent pedigree, much to the delight of consumers.
Consoles may be in for a tough fight
As developers find more success with mobile games, they are beginning to hold more power over the game industry. The industry has long been dominated by consoles, such as the Playstation and Xbox, but mobile devices are threatening to dethrone these platforms. A new generation of consoles is expected to be released sometime this year by Sony and Microsoft, but whether these platforms will be able to compete with mobile games has yet to be seen. ABI Research, a leading market research firm, suggests that competition with mobile games may be fierce.
Research firm suggests that mobile games are cutting into console opportunities with casual gamers
According to ABI Research, mobile games have diminished the opportunities available to consoles in the casual gaming market. Mobile games have introduced consumers to a new business model, wherein they can get the games they are interested in for free or for a very small fee. In general, mobile games that do cost money are $5 to purchase, at their most expensive. The vast majority of these games, however, are free. Many of these games do have in-app purchases that are, at times, somewhat controversial with some consumers, but these have not diminished the appeal of mobile games in any significant manner.
