The Wright Stuff: Why mobile games are failing Mobile

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The Wright Stuff: Why mobile games are failing

Mobile games veteran Chris Wright tells it how he sees it

Product: The Wright Stuff | Publisher: Game Consultancy

by Chris Wright

You might think this is a depressing way to start a series of columns about the all-exciting, all-conquering sphere of mobile gaming, but let's face facts: if mobile gaming hasn't actually failed yet, it hasn't been the massive success everyone in the industry expected five years ago.

The market, so the analysts keep telling us, is going to be huge, but in five years' time. That's what they said five years ago, and that's what they're saying now. Always jam tomorrow.

The reason is actually very simple but it's something no-one in the industry is willing to own up to. The problem is that mobile games are simply not appealing enough to get most people to play them. That's why the percentage of people who've downloaded a game onto their mobile remains stubbornly stuck at five per cent.

Technically mobile games are okay, but what's vital is that there are few games that aren't done better on a different console. To that extent, the mobile is the ultimate also-ran gaming device, suffering from badly ported versions of games designed for other platforms.

Everyone know it, but in the desperation to keep the money flowing, it seems we're prepared to buy up any old film or TV licence and try to make another mobile game. Licences that have no right being made into games seem to be announced on almost a daily basis. It's a case of quantity over quality and I also think it's the sign of a market about to hit the wall in the same way the console market did in the 1980s when Atari released its ET tie-in game, and then had to bury millions of outsold cartridges in the desert.

This downward spiral must and will end but if we're not careful, just like the Atari games crash all those years ago, a lot of companies will go to the wall in the process. Those that survive will be the companies able to innovate and bring something new to the platform.

Of course, it's easy to talk about innovation, but to sell innovation, you need to encourage the market. And having been involved in mobile games development for years, I know better than most that the hard realities of delivering a game across 600 handsets kills innovation.

So if the industry wants to take the next step forward, it needs to pause and work out what the players really want from mobile games and how it can deliver this. But it also needs to be honest with itself; the answer isn't going to be casual games and it certainly isn't going to be yet another lazy match-three game that most publishers pump out as casual.

No, what mobile needs is a killer app, something that takes advantage of the fact it is being played on a mobile. It needs to be something that uses the inherent qualities of the medium to provide players with a unique and enjoyable experience. Just look at games like Brain Training (DS), Lumines (PSP), Wii Sports (Wii) or Geometry Wars (XBLA) to see entertainment that takes advantage of a device to deliver a new and unique experience. Now try to think of similar examples out of the thousands of games that have been released on mobile?

And that lack is the problem. Until we solve it no amount of second-rate licences will do and success will always be 'another five years' away.

After 12 years in the games industry, the last eight as head of production at I-play, Chris Wright finally has escaped. He now runs his own consultancy firm focusing on casual games.

He thinks his greatest achievement is being called a 'veteran of the mobile games industry', while his greatest regret is not completing Gears of War, even on the easiest setting. He can be contacted at chris[at]gamesconsultancy.com

All opinions expressed are the author's own.

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What's this?

	Chris Wright 12/4/2008

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Teymur | 12 April 2008

I don't agree that mobile games are not good enought in comparison to other platforms. Just look at Gameloft games. They create better stuff each year. The problem is in content discovery, sales channels and operators. Operators made developers shift focus from gameplay and innovation to licenses, few of which are already left free to find.
Nowadays, you don't need a good game, you just need a good movie brand. And you can attach anything to that brand and it will sell. Why invest a lot in development then? Until we change this situation there will be no innovation.

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Mandark | 12 April 2008

The way I see it is that mobile games have two big problems…public indifference, especially amongst the 20 plus age groups and cost. A lot of games are not ignored simply because they are rubbish, it's often because people simply won't or can't pay for mobile games. How many requests do we see on this site saying 'where can I download that game for free?!' I'm pretty certain many people didn't bother buying Pyramid Bloxx the sequel to the successful Tower Bloxx simply because it wasn't as well known and costs a fiver! Yet that was exactly the sort of quality, casual friendly game that nearly everyone would be playing if it came free on their phone. But most people will say it's a mobile game and I'm not paying anything for that! May be mobile development costs are not obvious because many of the games look so basic. Most people realise that a lot of money was spent developing Wii Sports or even Brain Training with its touch play and voice recognition but those that saw it, probably thought Pyramid Bloxx was knocked up in a couple of hours by one person after lunch!

The ideal for many would be the mobile equivalent of PC 'in browser' games. So they go to their games folder and there's a long list of games which they can pick from and start playing almost straight away with no fee. The way to cover costs would be to cover all games in the mobile tariff (or may be even an option in a third party subscription service that the mobile user is also signed up to, such as Sky TV). There's also ad support. 'Puzzle game supplied in association with well known fizzy drink.' I know the likes of Gamejump and others try this but it's a bit slow and messy as you wait a while for some ad to appear before you can play the game.

So in summary the market's there and as Teymur says what you offer is important but mobile games must be easier to obtain and cheaper.

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Games Consultancy | 13 April 2008

I don't believe the issue here is price, mobile games are already cheap and cost about the same as a magazine (or a pint!). People pay £20 for DS games so paying £5 or less for mobile is good value.
Everyone always want's things for free, piracy is a problem across all formats. Simply making mobile games cheaper will not solve the problem and will in many ways make the problem worse, in the end you get what you pay for.
I would agree that there are problems with how operators push and dictate the games. This focus on licenses and lack of understanding of the market is pushing content providers down the license route. This is something I will come back to in future columns.
I stand by the central idea that after 8 years and hundreds of millions of pounds there is still not one must have mobile game.

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