How Did Smartphones Create a Whole New Gaming Demographic?

In a short space of time, smartphones have blown other offshoots of the gaming industry out of the water. Smartphones now account for almost 50 percent of the worldwide gaming market, and this figure is continuing to grow. The success of this form of play has been in developers identifying and fostering a completely new demographic that hadn’t existed before.

Helped by the Growth of the Online Gambling Industry

In the early days of the mobile gaming industry, it quickly became apparent that titles offering short burst gameplay were going to draw in a lot of players. This is because they could be enjoyed for brief spells on the go. They didn’t require players to sit down and commit a lot of time. Early success stories were games like Angry Birds and Doodle Jump, which were fun but simple enough for anyone to get involved.

The emergence of smartphone gaming coincided with the rise of online casinos, which were just starting to boom around the end of the 2000s. Online casino games like the Gonzo’s Quest slot perfectly fit the pick-up-and-play mold of smartphone gaming. This is because players can spin the reels for any amount of time they desire. Developers quickly realized that they could attract this new demographic and began to design their titles so they were geared towards the portable screen. Over the past decade, smartphone gaming and online casinos have hit unprecedented heights in tandem.

Tapped Into a Market of Casual Gamers

Some would argue that the thriving smartphone gaming industry was born from the success of Nokia’s Snake. This was one of the first ever games to be introduced on a phone, and it was an incredible sensation. It appealed to users as a boredom killer, but also as a challenge as they competed for high scores. Its accessibility made it so pretty much anyone could play it, and it didn’t require much of a time investment.

It swiftly became apparent to savvy developers that there was an enormous market of casual gamers out there, waiting to be tapped. When smartphones became mainstream, it was no surprise that games were among the most popular apps. Since then, research has shown that mobile games now account for 33 percent of installs, as per TechCrunch. Ease and affordability have certainly helped with this as well.

Smartphones Now Lead the Way

Not only has the smartphone gaming industry brought about a whole new demographic, it has also set the bar for other offshoots of gaming to follow. Some of the models that were first introduced on smartphones now exist elsewhere in the wider industry.

For example, the freemium marketing format is now accepted to be one of the best ways to attract players. Smartphone game developers have also brought about the concept of regularly updating games rather than releasing new installments. This is now being seen in other areas of the industry.

Smartphones may not have created a new gaming demographic, but they tapped into one that was already there and waiting. Over more than a decade of astonishing developments, the sector now sits at the top of the pile above PC and console games by some margin.