Is Mobile Game Development Worth It?
Mobile Game Development is worth learning because of the many benefits that come with it. Mobile Games are used all over the world for entertainment. Making mobile games is a great way to add a new income stream to your life.
Mobile Games are the top-grossing apps on both Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. The global mobile games market generated $7.7 billion from player spending across the App Store and Google Play in August 2021, marking an increase of 8.6 percent year-over-year (SENSORTOWER).
In 2022 alone, revenue in the Mobile Games industry is projected to reach US$164.10 billion (Statista). This revenue is expected to grow year by year, it is projected to have a market volume of US$241.40 billion by 2027.
These estimations show how huge the mobile game industry is and it continues to grow. Being part of this huge industry and the growth around it is certainly worth it. Here are some of the benefits of mobile game development.
BENEFITS OF MOBILE GAME DEVELOPMENT
There are a lot of benefits that make developing mobile games worth it. Generally, mobile games are built for entertainment and education. Here are some of the benefits of developing mobile games.
INCOME
Developing mobile games is a great source of income, whether you are a freelancer, a tutor, a company or you have a full-time job, being a mobile game developer can bring you a good amount of income.
It has been reported that PUBG Mobile grossed 1.18 billion US Dollars in the first nine months of the year 2021 (Statista). King’s Candy Crush Saga alone generated $4.2 million per day in 2018 according to Sensor Tower. This show that mobile games can make you a lot of money.
SOLVE PROBLEMS
You can use mobile games to help and solve other people’s problems. There are mobile games that have been developed to help students revise and solve school problems. Mobile apps like Duolingo which is more of a mobile game can help you to learn new languages.
Boredom is a huge problem for a lot of people, and what better way to overcome boredom that to play a game on a smartphone? Others can use mobile games to learn how to drive, and to have fun with their friends through multiplayer features.
Being able to develop mobile games to solve problems and provide entertainment is a truly worth contribution to people’s growth and wellbeing.
EMPLOYMENT
There are many mobile game development studios around the world. These game studios provide employment for many mobile game developers. Companies such as Glu Mobile, EA Mobile, and many others employ a lot of mobile game developers.
You can also build a startup around mobile game development and provide employment for other people. This too makes mobile game development worth it.
GROWING YOUR PROGRAMMING SKILLS
In order to develop mobile games, you will be working with game engines, animation software, and programming languages such as C++ for Unreal Engine, C# for Unity 3D, Javascript for PlatCanvas, and many others.
You will also be exposed to APIs, Databases, payment gateways, and server-side programming languages for building the backend system of your mobile games. Working with these programming languages and other technologies will help you when you to work on other projects away from Mobile games.
WORKING FOR BIG GAME STUDIOS
Great mobile game development skills can help you to get a job in the mobile division of big game companies such as EA, Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Jam City, Niantic, Pocket Gems, Roblox, and many others.
These companies provide many amazing perks for developers, and having a chance to work for any of these is a wonderful opportunity that many developers would cherish.
IS MOBILE GAME DEVELOPMENT HARD?
Developing mobile games can be expensive and time-consuming, you need to put a lot of things in place, you need to understand the platform (Android, or iOS) you are developing for, the set of game features, backend infrastructure, APIs, databases, etc.
It is challenging but not hard loosely speaking. Using games engines like Unreal, Unity 3D, PlayCanvas, Blend4Web, Game Maker Studio, Babylon.js, and many others makes mobile game development relatively easy.
It also depends on the project you are working on and your level of programming skills. Ultimately, mobile game development is not hard but it is challenging and that’s what makes it worthwhile.
DO MOBILE GAME DEVELOPERS HAVE A FUTURE?
Seeing that the mobile game industry keeps growing, there is a need for mobile game developers to keep up with the growth going forward.
Plus, the growing number of game startups around the world has also added to the growing demand and need for Mobile game Developers.
Mobile game developers are also needed for maintenance, security, and upgrades of already existing mobile games. Because of this, there is certainly a future for mobile game developers.
HOW DO I BECOME A SUCCESSFUL MOBILE GAME DEVELOPER?
Successful mobile game developers focus on simplicity, solving problems that people around the world are facing, and filling the gaps that other mobile games have not filled. You need to start by identifying a problem, once the problem is identified, you can then build your game as a solution.
When you think of successful mobile games like Candy Crush, it is simple and easy to play and it has a very simple leaderboard to keep players engaged, these combinations have attracted a lot of users and in turn, made billions of revenue for King.
You can also become a successful game developer by learning from others. You can learn from what they have developed, the structure of their code, the problems they aim to solve, and the tools they use. You can use Github to find open-source projects to learn from.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it can be seen that mobile game development is worth learning. The growth in the mobile game industry ensures that mobile game developers will be around for a long time.
You will also be providing entertainment and solving problems for people by developing mobile games that meet their needs. Mobile game development helps you to earn money either as a freelancer, a tutor, or with a full-time job.
The challenges that you will face while developing mobile games will help you to improve your problem-solving skills in programming and in life as a whole. Learning mobile game development is truly worth it.
There are many game development courses on Skillshare that you can try for free for one month.