MOBILE GAMING IS IT THE FUTURE?

By Michael Hudson (CodeHeads) and Steven Gurevitz (2002Studios)

Codeheads:

l  Game Development l  Mobile Development

l  Social Game Developemt

2002 Studios and 2002 Studios Media:

•  Content Consultancy

•  Music, sound design and voice •  Localization

YES

Some Statistics l  Mobile entertainment industry worth $33billion in 2010 and expected to be worth $55billion by 2015 l  Mobile gaming industry was $8billion of that and expected to hit $11.4billion in 2014 l  70 - 80% of downloads are games l  53% of mobile gamers are female l  51% of top 25 grossing games in the App Store are free and freemium games are growing l  81% of all downloads are free l  Game developers earned $87million in 2010 from advertising with earnings set to be 10x that by 2014

Statistics by GeekAPhone

•  Desktop based, across platforms (where the user is mobile and content needs to be in the cloud) •  Smart Phone •  Tablet •  Dedicated Hand held Device

But First we Must Define Mobile

•  Hardware manufacturers will try to separate game play experience through hardware specs. •  Different OS is still a reality •  Flash and HTML5 are allowing multi-platform products, BUT won’t suite all hardware or all game design.

Different Form factors require different content.

Where Flash comes in and where HTML5 plays a part

Flash has great performance!

Flash has great money backing, with big company's!

Flash has a great community and user base!

Apple hates flash :( WHY?

WARNING THOUGH!

Where Flash comes in and where HTML5 plays a part

So, flash is great for Android and Blackberry, YAY!

Flash is great for iOS applications, YAY! (it is still improving ;) )

Flash works great in some mobile browsers!

BUT THE PROBLEM!!

Here comes HTML5!

HTML5 is cross-platform HTML5 is great for web-based Apps

HTML5 is great for mobile browsers, works everywhere, it just needs some work ;)

Where Flash comes in and where HTML5 plays a part

BUT Development isn't the easiest, getting it to work on all browsers and devices the same

There is plenty of money to be made, but is hard to find

Music and SFX are an issue, needs a bit of work to get sound working properly in HTML5 games

So, Flash or HTML5?

l  Well, both, both have their place and both can work together, despite what others think l  How widely used each will be depends on the future of mobile, native apps or web-based apps l  Web-based apps (games) are growing and web-based social games for mobile are growing l  So what will these web-based games be made in, well, HTML5 ofcourse, with a social game you want as big an audience as possible, HTML5 can give you that! l  Native apps are still here and are not looking to move any time soon, so flash for mobile, we believe starts here l  Rather than developing games using flash for the mobile web, we believe HTML5 will take that place, but, for native apps, this is where flash can be used!

SO, IS MOBILE THE FUTURE?

Is it THAT easy?

l  Having a great idea for a game is only part the struggle l Finding people to build it who are RELIABLE l Good level design l High production values l Distribution l Exposure l Don’t be scared to share the possible income streams. l Better to get it out there and make a smaller cut than make 100% of nothing

So, is mobile the future?

l  Yes it is! Mobile is a huge market right now and is only getting bigger and bigger l  Where do us developers go with mobile then? Web-based flash games for android? HTML5 web-based games? Native apps with flash? Or Native apps with another dev platform?

IT IS UPTO YOU!!

HTML5 will be big and soon, so why not get in their early!

Native apps are big business, but it is crowded, but choose your dev platform and work with it

If going with flash for web-based mobile games, then try for a sponsorship to increase earnings

AND MOST OF ALL!

ENJOY IT!! Develop for mobile, it is the way forward and the market is pushing that way, so move with it, not against it. But develop the games you enjoy making Mobile is a crowded but big market, so think about exposure/marketing Showing the passion that went into your game will show through to user and increase downloads, sales and game plays. Remember games are played on something, think about the platform when designing the game

THE END Any questions, just fire away!