History of Mobile Gaming

Introduction

• Mobile gaming is a recent development compared to board games and computer games.
• Gaming industry: $160 billion; half from mobile gaming.
• Key growth over the last 30 years.

Early Mobile Games

• 1990s: Emergence with early cell phones featuring games like Tetris and Snake.
• Ancient mobile gaming: Simple, addictive gameplay.

The iPhone Revolution

• 2007: Release of the iPhone and App Store.
  • 500 apps initially, rising to 15,000 in six months.
  • Two years later: 100,000 apps with 2 billion downloads.
• Introduction of multiple app stores: Google Play, Windows Store, Amazon Apps.

Popular Mobile Games and Business Models

Angry Birds

• 2009: Rovio's Angry Birds release.
• Free-to-play model on Android; 99 cents on Apple.
• Revenue through ads.
• 500 million downloads, various expansions and movies.

Candy Crush Saga

• 2012: Introduction of the freemium model.
• Simple gameplay with in-app purchases.

Clash of Clans

• 2012: Introduces teamwork, city management, and role-playing.
• Strategy involves resource collection and building defenses.
• Encourages communication and cooperation.

Augmented Reality: Pokémon Go

• 2016: Release of Pokémon Go.
• AR and location-based gaming.
• Game involves capturing Pokémon in real-world locations.

Cross-Platform Play

• Mobile processing advancements allow playing computer games on mobile.
• Notable games: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite, League of Legends (Wild Rift), Among Us.

Popularity and Impact

• Top Mobile Games:
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile: Over 1 billion downloads.
  • Pokémon Go, Subway Surfers, Clash of Clans, Fruit Ninja.
  • Candy Crush Saga, Among Us, Angry Birds.
• Mobile gaming is culturally significant.

Course Focus

• Course will focus on tabletop and board games.
• Mobile gaming programming is beyond the scope of this course.
• Emphasis on understanding cultural relevance and gaming trends.

Conclusion

• A week-long breakdown of modern gaming in the U.S.
• Next week: Designing games and related processes.
• Open for questions and further discussions.