Tag: angry birds

Mobile gaming addicting to young consumers

| January 23, 2013

Mobile Gaming addictive for childrenMobile gaming draws criticism for focus on children

It is no secret that mobile games are designed to keep people playing them as long as possible. The longer a person plays a mobile game, the more exposed they are to the various advertisements and services being offered through that game. The mobile gaming space has been seeing more criticism for this common practice recently, however, because of the fact that many mobile games are played, if not designed specifically for, children.

Kytephone report shows Rovio games are the most addictive

A new report from Kytephone, a company that offers tools for the Android platform that are designed for child safety, shows that children are very susceptible to addictive mobile games. The report shows that many mobile games, especially those that are free to download, are very popular among the younger audience. The company drew its data from more than 13,000 children between the ages of 8 and 14. Kytephone found that the most addicting titles in the mobile gaming space came from Rovio, the developers of the Angry Birds franchise.

Rovio games beat out other titles on the mobile platform

During the 2012 holiday season, Kytephone found that children were spending 51% more time on mobile gaming than they had been during other times of the year. The majority of this time was spent on various Rovio titles, including Angry Birds and Angry Birds Star Wars. Other titles that are popular with children on other platforms, such as Minecraft, fell well behind Rovio in terms of mobile gaming. While most of these games are not associated with any fees, they do expose children to advertisements and often encourage the spending of money in order to unlock new services.

Mobile games could be exposing children to advertisements designed to encourage them to pay for services

Mobile gaming has begun attracting critical attention because of its apparent focus on appealing to a very young audience. For entertainment purposes, this is rarely a problematic issue. Mobile gaming applications do not exist for the sole purpose of entertainment, however, as most developers in the mobile gaming space rely heavily on putting advertisements within the games to generate revenue. These advertisements can also collect personal information from a consumer, putting a child’s personal information at some degree of risk.

Mobile gaming may benefit from emerging trends

| January 3, 2013

Mobile Gaming Trends

The past year has seen many highs and lows for the game industry and its various companies

The advent of mobile gaming has had a significant impact on the industry as a whole and has helped spawn trends that are likely to dictate the course of the game industry into the future. With more consumers showing favor for mobile gaming over traditional channels, encouraging developers to focus more on mobile platforms and incorporate new business methods that defy tradition.

Research highlights the prospects of mobile gaming

According to research from Gartner, more than 821 million smart phones and tablets were sold in the U.S. throughout 2012. As the penetration of mobile devices increased, so too did the focus on mobile games. Rovio, developers of the popular Angry Birds franchise, is one of the prime examples of the success that can be found in the mobile gaming space. The developer’s success has encouraged several other development studios to enter into the mobile space. Gartner research suggests that 44% of mobile consumers participate in mobile gaming, creating a significant incentive for game developers to target this audience.

Developers turning to corwdfunding

Crowdfunding is also becoming a popular trend in the game industry, especially where mobile gaming is concerned. Platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo have paved the way for game development studios to tap directly into consumers for financial support. Several developers have used this to great success. Crowdfunding is expected to help provide the mobile gaming space with more momentum into 2013, especially as larger development studios begin making use of such platforms to fund ambitious mobile games.

Problems persist for game industry as a whole

Though the mobile gaming market represents significant opportunities, economic turmoil continues to cause problems throughout the game industry. Recently, major developer THQ filed for bankruptcy after a long period of financial trouble. Larger companies, such as Blizzard Entertainment, Sega, and Electronic Arts, have also reported layoffs in recent months. While many of these setbacks are expected to be rectified in the coming year, the industry is still likely to experience turmoil to some degree in 2013.