2020 is going down in history as the year of the pandemic. The whole world came to a standstill while the future seemed bleak at best.

However, through this time, a handful of industries continued to grow, that too at a much faster pace. While global industrial growth went in reverse for most sectors, the gaming industry’s growth rate went into overdrive. Mobile gaming, in particular, saw consistent growth in its user base due to its convenience and superior experience.

By the end of 2021, mobile games are expected to grow even further. Several trends will determine the growth trajectory of mobile gaming shortly.

Mobile Gaming Trends

1) Cross-Platform Gaming:

Gaming is slowly getting more device-agnostic. Users are looking for a seamless gaming experience in multiplayer games like Fortnite across platforms (not just mobile) while the quality remains unaffected.

As 5G will expectedly roll out in 2021 and the rise of cloud gaming in the gaming market, this trend is set to advance rapidly. It will also be aided by the addition of new premium gaming experiences.

Even casual games are gaining traction and unifying players across platforms. The game Among Us grew in popularity in 2020, although it was launched two years prior. Today, it is available officially on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC, Android and iOS.

2) Connecting More Users Through 5G:

Cloud gaming and 5G will be responsible for this trend as well. According to a 2020 report, about 1 billion 5G-ready smartphones will be active in the market towards the end of 2022. To give you an idea, this means 21.8% of all the active smartphones around the world. By 2021, this trend will gain momentum, with about 500 million users expected to adopt 5G-ready devices.

5G networks provide higher speeds, reduced latency and increased bandwidth. They will enable improved collaborative and social gaming experiences among users, along with increasingly complex gaming content while on the move.

With almost everyone stuck at home during the lockdown, mobile gaming became more social in 2020. According to a report, 56% of regular gamers used multiplayer, with an average time of 7 hours spent playing online. Of this group, 55% of users said that social gaming to stay entertained has kept them connected with their friends during the pandemic.

3) The Rise of eSports:

eSports has also been a rapidly emerging category in the past few years. Popular leagues and tournaments, along with top players, have been featured on this platform. Since 2020, the growth of esports has been exponential, especially in terms of spectators. This was evident from the amount of revenue and the size of the audience that eSports got through.

According to reports, esports revenues are set to touch $1.1 billion. By 2020, this gaming domain had 272 million viewers and 223 million esports enthusiasts. As the market grew to almost half a million, the largest market share belonged to China. Revenues climbed to an estimated $385.1 million.

eSports on mobile continue to grow in popularity and are unlikely to slow down. They have a higher demand in emerging markets like Asia.

4) AR Gaming on Mobile:

AR can create an enhanced and more realistic environment for users by merging virtual characters into the player’s environment in real-time. This makes it perfect for mobile gaming. AR and VR have already entered gaming in a big way, but they are yet to reach mass adoption. The new technology has taken immersive gaming to a whole new level, advancing rapidly and creating an increasingly realistic experience for viewers.

Video game giants will soon be able to integrate an AR or VR element into the average gamer’s experience, thus removing the requirement for a screen or a monitor. The AR and VR market is expected to touch some $20 billion in revenue by 2021.

A combination of cloud gaming and 5G networks will make the real-time gaming experience faster and smoother. It will also help create a more immersive AR-based gaming experience for users.

Gaming companies were inching towards a mobile-first experience for users. The global pandemic exponentially sped up this process. GTA, Doom, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Max Raider and other popular PC and console games are already available on mobile today, with many more to join.

Mobile gamers have also grown in number, up by 46% in the first quarter of 2020. User demands also continue to diversify, from online casinos with real money in India to cloud multiplayer gamers in other Asian markets to casual games like Among Us and Minecraft in both of these markets. Gaming giants will have to As the pandemic continues, the gaming industry is likely to see the shift continue with no slowing down, at least in the foreseeable future.

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