Gone are days when people used to rely solely on bulky consoles and expensive PCs for gaming. In recent years, the presence of affordable smartphones is believed to have transformed both the gaming and smartphone industry. This convergence of mobile technology and gaming hasn’t only transformed how games are played but resulted in a revenue explosion. According to a report published by Statista, a market research firm, the mobile games market is projected to genreate a revenue of $98.74 billion worldwide. It is also mentioned in the report that, the market is expected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2027) of 6.39%, resulting in a projected market volume of $118.90 billion by 2027. So, the growth story showcases how smartphones have become the primary platform for gaming.
In Indian context also, the role of smartphones has been instrumental for the rise of gaming. According to a recent FICCI-EY report, India is the world’s biggest market by mobile game downloads where hyper-casual games were most downloaded genre. “Nowadays people have faster internet connection which makes them play multiplayer games smoothly. Compared to earlier, these affordable smartphones are letting users play larger multiplayer games,” a senior analyst told BrandWagon Online.
It is believed that, much of these transformations have been driven by smartphones. Companies like ASUS, IQOO and Lenovo among others developed specialised gaming smartphones. It is seen that, these game friendly devices have advanced display alongside cooling system to manage the heat generated during high intensity gaming sessions. The evolution of smartphone processors has also been influenced by gaming. As per a 2024 article published on Unboxed by croma, currently Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the MediaTek Dimensity 9300 chips have been the current kings of mobile processing. It is mentioned in the article that, users will get smoother gameplay and longer battery life even if they play games for hours. In addition to that, their strong GPUs (graphics processing units) claim to deliver exceptional graphics rendering, lending mobile games closer to console like visuals.
Furthermore, the rise of augmented reality (AR) gaming has also driven innovations in smartphone sensors and cameras. Nowadays, smartphones feature advanced AR capabilities, including advanced AR capabilities and depth sensors to support immersive gaming experiences. However, the relationship between gaming and smartphone technology is expected to deepen together. It is expected that, the integration of 5G technology will enhance online gaming experience with lower latency and faster speeds.