Developers looking to find ways to get people engaged in mobile games
Mobile games have become one of the most potentially lucrative sectors of the game industry, largely due to the sheer number of consumers that have mobile devices. While these games have proven quite popular with consumers, they are not a guaranteed gold mine. In order for mobile games to generate any significant amount of revenue, they must tackle a very difficult challenge involving consumer engagement. Consumers have a very short attention span when it comes to mobile applications and will move on to a new application very quickly. This has lead many developers to seek out new ways to ensure that their mobile games remain engaging.
Supply outweighs demand
The number of mobile games has increased dramatically since 2007. This means that there is no shortage of options when consumers are looking for new games to play. Because there is no shortage, consumers can easily go from game to game without having to spend any significant amount of time on a single application. While this may be good for consumers, this is somewhat problematic for developers, as low engagement times mean less revenue produced by a particular game.
Consumer engagement proves to be a tricky issue
Finding ways to keep consumers engaged has not been an easy task. Thus far, the mobile games that have been able to accomplish this task have been those with strong social elements, such as Draw Something and Words With Friends. Some developers have taken to developing highly addicting games with attractive features, following the example of Angry Birds. No developer has yet found an effective way to ensure that a mobile game produces a high level of revenue, however.
Finding ways to generate revenue continues to be a strong focus for the game industry
Angry Birds developer Rovio notes that 45% of its revenue comes from merchandise and mobile games themselves only account for 9% of the revenue for the entire game industry. Smaller developers do not typically have the funds needed to produce merchandise, and thus must find effective ways to enthrall the attention o consumers that have limited interest in devoting themselves to a single game or entertainment application.
