Table of Contents
Introduction
Playing on a computer or mobile games has a variety of advantages, including bringing the entire community together, increasing mental health, as well as broadening cognitive abilities. It encourages the growth of adaptation, problem-solving skills, and focus. Involvement in video games may help disabled people become more involved. For so many, mobile games represent a big leap forward in gaming. We’ve all got neighbors, family members, as well as friends that are addicted to mobile apps like Candy Crush, Disney’s Tsum Tsum, and many others. While these distractions have an audience and represent a significant financial gain for businesses, mobile applications may also be real gaming platforms. The mobile game development market is exploding. Every year, its growth figures astound us. Mobile gaming revenue is expected to reach an astonishing $102.8 billion by 2023, up from $77.2 billion in 2020. The number of mobile gaming players is increasing all the time, and the covid pandemic has contributed significantly to this increase.
According to Harvard Business Review, although lockdowns may have converted millions of people into gamers, transitioning to working from home (WFH) presented unexpected creative challenges for those working in the gaming industry. The tech-savvy workforce, which deals almost entirely in digital goods, may have been expected to quickly shift to working from home. Nevertheless, a lack of spontaneous engagement hindered product development in several cases, and highly rated new games missed release dates by weeks or months. As a result of the delays, several gaming companies have lost millions of dollars. The number of new players has grown dramatically in 2020. Further to that, they spend more time in-game each week. The need for mobile development in general is increasing as the audience grows. Nowadays, the approximate number of mobile users is 7.1 billion. It is expected to climb to 7.49 billion by 2025. Unlike mobile application programming, game development allows you to be more creative. Most of the time, you are not constrained by the traditional UI/UX constraints imposed by app distribution platforms and iOS and Android specifications. The mobile game creation process allows you to express yourself while also recognizing that your product provides people fun.
What is Mobile Game Development and Why Is It Important?
Mobile game development is the process of creating a game from scratch for mobile devices. A mobile game is developed via numerous stages, including planning, development, testing, and launch. Your mobile game can go popular in the online gaming community if it has advanced features, appealing visuals, as well as an engaging plotline. You may also modify and relaunch a game for a certain demographic, such as beginners or pro-gamers. You may create a mobile game with next-level performance and user experience by updating it on a regular basis. Mobile games are fast gaining popularity and generating billions of dollars in revenue each year. The hype surrounding video gaming has simmered down, and practically everyone else on the planet is more addicted to mobile games.
To create place for complex mobile games, Android, iOS, as well as other mobile platforms are being improved. Several mobile game makers are becoming multibillion-dollar enterprises. When your mobile game hooks its consumers, it becomes successful. Mobile game creation is now regarded as one of the most profitable IT industries. A mobile game appeals to a wide range of consumers, from youngsters to adults. Establishing a mobile game is now more like creating a legacy that grows over time. Mobile games have become a vital part of our daily lives over the last decade. People can spend hours playing smartphone games. Several users make a career solely from professional mobile gaming. The introduction of smartphones with next-generation graphics processors is driving the mobile gaming market to create additional games. Mobile games not only improve players’ mental health, but they also improve their capacity to make decisions and memorize. Mobile game development is becoming a self-contained income stream. Mobile games drive product marketing and branding via monetizing as well as advertising.
The Important 7 Steps Every Developers Go Through to Make a Mobile Game
- Developing Game Concept – The game design document is the first and most critical phase in the game production process. Before beginning the narrative, designs, and production process, the original and engaging game concept should be thought up. What is the first difficulty that a development team confronts during the idea creation stage? Meeting product development deadlines In most situations, the project is viewed as a collection of in-game mechanisms made available to a client. However, several business aspects are not taken into account, such as balancing, testing, analytics, marketing, administration, resource management, and publication. Inexperienced teams working on their first game spend a lot of time on the idea stage. As a result, they are unable to achieve the time-to-market standards and must concede defeat. Developing a game concept may be the most challenging phase in game creation because it kicks off the process. Coming up with a unique and competitive idea is an important component of making a great game. It allows your team an opportunity to catch the attention of the public and gives game publishers some assurances of your success.
- Pre-Production Stage – The pre-production stage of the development process introduces new problems and gets ready the development team for the production stage. The major goal of this stage is to explore the entire future process of building the mobile game. All team members and different teams should collaborate to decide on the project’s post-launch support, agree on building tools and frameworks, as well as prepare its structure for scalability. It is also necessary to calculate and estimate all of the critical analytical events that allow working with the possible audience. The team agrees on the core storyline of the game’s tale and the key characters during the pre-production stage. Engineers confer with authors and designers about the feasibility of incorporating specific elements into the gameplay. Artists and designers collaborate to develop distinctive characters that will fit into the setting of the game. Developers and engineers collaborate to improve in-game mechanics and physics. The technologies to be employed are chosen by the development team. Most of the time, a Unity engine is used. This cross-platform game creation engine allows for relatively speedy and low-cost game development. Before beginning production, the game development team should have a clear vision of the game world and characters, as well as the game interface, control schemes, and other aspects. Once everything has been discussed and agreed upon, the production phase of the game development process may begin.
- Game Production – One of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive aspects of designing a mobile game is production. It also introduces entirely new problems and answers. Changes to the project’s business model and development processes may occur for your team. Using Agile technique, on the other hand, aids in adapting the project to the new needs and prioritizing the features. The team must visualize the job scope and agree on a shared development path. The crew works on character models and rendering, the audio component of the game, level design, and so on during the production phase. Developers are working on the code, while project managers ensure that all departments are working together smoothly, that deadlines are met, and that the organization is running well.
- Testing Phase – Testing is a critical stage in the development process. You must ensure that the game functions properly before releasing it on various mobile platforms. All of the features and mechanics should be tested by the quality assurance (QA). Without extensive testing, the game will be unable to get past the Alpha level. The testing section is in charge of creating a plethora of documentation for test cases and user cases. Manual and automated testing are used to determine whether or not the game is functioning properly and whether it crashes. All attempts to “break” the game are documented, and errors are corrected throughout the testing phase. In certain circumstances, games are additionally evaluated with a focus group of users to determine the “fun factor” and if the game is simple or difficult enough for the average user. After all of the testing, the development process is ready to move on to the next stage – pre-launch.
- Pre-Launch Phase – The game should be tested before it is released. It is also known as a soft launch or pre-launch. This stage, like the others in the game development process, allows the team to estimate the game’s future and gather additional data for prospective changes. During the pre-launch stage, the game is often published in a small number of countries or regions to assess how people engage with the game. The creators check to see if the test users have any problems with the game and whether it is overall pleasurable. Following the collection of statistics, the game will undergo minor adjustments and updates before to its final release. It is also the point in the game’s development where marketing strategy kicks off. A marketing team begins to promote the game using various techniques in order to make the public aware of a new game. If all goes as planned, the game will be ready for release.
- Launching Game – The launch is likely one of the most difficult stages of game development for the entire team. All of the months of laborious work and thinking will pay off in the end. When all of the issues have been resolved and all of the data from the pre-launch has been collected, the game will be officially released. This stage will almost certainly bring more user input and problem reports. They should all be addressed in order to enhance the game experience. The task, however, does not end there. More data will be gathered by the game. The post-production part of the game development process starts here.
- Post-Production – Even if your game is currently profitable and bringing in a steady income, now is not the time to stop developing it. You will most likely receive reports of new issues or crashes experienced by numerous players in the first few months following the game’s release. Your aim is to update the game program as fast as possible so that you do not lose your audience and the gaming experience remains seamless. Further to that, the game should never cease expanding and growing. When a big number of players have found the bulk of levels in your game, it’s time to make upgrades and release new versions. A fantastic idea would be to include seasonal activities and holiday products. It piques your audience’s interest in exploring new material and provides them with the opportunity to gain uncommon collection goods. Adding new material to your game allows you to stay current with your audience and build your player base. Further to that, delivering holiday-themed seasonal events or upgrades is a terrific opportunity to monetize – 87% of gamers said they paid downloaded material in 2019. For instance, consider Hearthstone, a collectable card game that has grown in popularity since its first release in 2014. Until now, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. has been continually upgrading and updating the game, which has helped the project remain at the top of the list on numerous gaming platforms.
Best Mobile Game Development Companies for Developers to Work
1. Activision Blizzard
This organization was founded in 2008, and its headquarters are in Santa Monica, California. Major League Gaming, Activision Publishing, and King are all part of one massive corporation. These studios have generated some of the most durable and successful video game franchises in history, spanning more than a century. How would you describe your working environment? According to the report, 59% of those polled indicated they would recommend it to a friend. According to some anonymous reviews, the organization is a “great place to work,” but management is “self-destructive” and the organization has “other excellent things, some not so nice.” The company was sued in 2021 for alleged discriminatory, degrading, and harassing behavior. Activision Blizzard was designated a fantastic place to work in both Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” and “Companies that Care” lists from 2015 to 2018. Some of their work includes Call of Duty, Diablo, and StarCraft.
2. Riot
League of Legends skyrocketed in popularity when it was introduced in 2006. When it comes to games as a service, it is one of the predecessors and most successful instances. The headquarters of the corporation are in West Los Angeles. Riot’s global e-sports leagues already draw millions of viewers each year. Riot may not have reached League’s level of success yet, but they have the know-how and resources to continue trying until they do. So, do you think it’s a nice place to work? Seventy percent of those questioned indicated they would recommend it to a friend. Some employees have regarded the company as “unpleasant and even a nasty business,” while others have hailed it as a terrific “dream job” and “one of the finest organizations to work for” in the video game industry.
3. Nintendo
It was formed in 1889, over a century ago, and is the world’s oldest and most well-known video game company. Nintendo’s corporate headquarters are in Kyoto, Japan. It developed the well-known games Mario, Pokémon, and Zelda. They’ve evolved into an international powerhouse recognized for their beloved games as well as their one-of-a-kind gaming systems. Is it a nice place to work? According to the survey, 81 percent of Nintendo employees would recommend it to a friend. Employee feedback is generally favorable, although not overly enthusiastic, as one might expect from a company that has been in operation for almost a century (“Great job,” “Stable, traditional, lean”). Nintendo was named one of the “Best Workplaces in Canada (1000+ Employees)” in 2012, as well as one of the “Best Workplaces in Canada (for Women)” in 2012. (2012). Nintendo, on the other hand, has gotten negative feedback from worldwide regulatory bodies due to its obstinate lack of transparency.