Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2015 has gained a lot of eyeballs with some big announcements coming from some of the biggest gaming companies and the show is gaining traction with every passing day.
PC games and console games have always been at the heart of the expo as the line-up of AAA games are announced on the big stage one after another. This time too it was no different with Bethesda coming up with games like Fallout 4, Doom and Dishonored 2 followed by Microsoft which has brought back the Halo franchise with Halo 5: Guardians and Gears of War’s next installment – Gears of War 4. Not to forget Sony, Ubisoft , EA, SquareEnix and Nintendo that have major game releases in the next 16 months.
One of the major changing trends seen in the expo this year is that gaming companies are now also turning their focus towards mobile games. These are now one of the major revenue forms where the money is flowing in large numbers and if designed correctly, the game can give big returns.
Mobile games are predicted to generate more revenue than traditional consoles in 2015, according to market research firm Newzoo, which projects the growing sector, will make $30 billion worldwide this year, compared with $26 billion estimated for console games.
Starting with Bethesda, at its first E3 showing, the company released the mobile app Fallout Shelter which has vault management as the core of the game. Users need to create and protect their vault along with the people inside taking shelter – who are customisable and can perform variety of activities to an extent of reproduction. The game is currently available on iOS devices with the Android version coming out soon in a month or two.
There has been an increasing audience for the card trading genre since Blizzard’s Hearthstone and various companies are now testing waters by releasing similar games which tick with this audience. Bethesda too with its new cards game –The Elders Scroll Legends – will release on mobile devices along with the PC version.
Electronic Arts (EA) too has been cashing in on the Star Wars franchise and has announced taking the Star Wars Universe experience to the small screen with Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. This too will be a card based game with role playing elements from the wide selection of characters that Star Wars franchise can offer. The game is set to release later this year on Android and iOS but no date has been finalised as yet.
Another gaming company to jump on the mobile game development bandwagon is Square Enix. With the new Tomb Raider game – Rise of the Tomb Raider – set to release this year, Square Enix wants to extrapolate the popularity of the franchise and has released a Lara Croft run game called Lara Croft: Relic Run. The game is somewhat on the lines of Temple Run with a twist in the mechanics of the game. It is currently available as free-to-play on iOS and Android devices.
Another franchise which Square Enix is taking to the mobile platform is Hitman. It released Hitman Sniper, a shooter game where one kills enemies one after another and each kill is rewarded with points that are linked to the universal leader board system. Hitman Sniper is also out now for Android and Apple devices for $4.99.
Square Enix is taking the mobile game competition to a whole new level with a Kingdom Hearts game. Kingdom Hearts Unchained Key is a mobile game that is closely connected to Square Enix’ main Kingdom Hearts title Kingdom Hearts 3.
Kingdom Hearts Unchained Key will be featuring 3D graphics in a hack-and-slash action role playing game that will capture both long-time fans of the Kingdom Hearts franchise and starting gamers into the franchise. Just like in the old Kingdom Hearts games, the newest mobile game will witness a variety of Disney characters like Goofy, Daffy Duck, and Aladdin.
Nintendo too has recently diverted its attention towards smartphone gamers and announced partnership with mobile game developer DeNA in March. This will make Nintendo the second largest shareholder in the company and bring some of its iconic characters to the small screens. Although Nintendo did not announce much about what is happening on that front, it is easy to say that mobile phone gamers will have a merry time with big line-up coming their way.