It's hard to think of an area of technology that moves as quickly as mobile gaming. New devices are released every few months, and 5G is on the way. At this pace of progress, the experiences you can have on your phones are starting to rival those you can have with a $300 console.
In 2017, mobile games represented 42% of the $108 billion gaming market. In 2018, that figure had leapt to 50% of a $137 billion industry. It's no longer true to say that smartphone gaming is an emerging trend, but a potentially dominant – and technically impressive – reality; if not the driving force of gaming worldwide.
Epic's phenomenally popular free-to-play game Fortnite Battle Royale has captivated players' attention for the past 18 months – in a flurry of mainstream news headlines, faux controversy and famous footballer's 'taking the L' - but it's growth tells the real story of mobile gaming's influence. In Jan 2018, Fortnite had 45 million players. By June 2018 that figure had risen to a staggering 125 million players after the game launched on iOS. Fortnite then launched on Android systems, opening it doors to another 2.5 billion potential players, and by March 2019 the figure of how many people play Fortnite had risen to 250 million players. The mind boggles, but the pattern is clear: smartphone gaming is already mainstream, and increasingly home to the most technologically-advanced and exciting new game releases.
What will Smartphone Gaming Week explore?
We're never without our smartphones in 2019, so it's only natural that we'd find ways to make these small super computers into gaming devices. GamesRadar's Smartphone Gaming Week will explore the rise and rise of the dinky device as a gaming power house, looking at the terrifying popularity of Candy Crush, intriguing indies like Reigns: Her Majesty, and how augmented reality could change how we play. We've also got handy advice on things like battery life.
We'll be running new articles all week, between Monday, August 26 and Friday, August 30, which we'll collate here for your convenience. Get involved by following GamesRadar on Twitter and Facebook too.
Friday, August 30
Thursday, August 29
Wednesday, August 28
Tuesday, August 27
Monday, August 26
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