The increase in mobile-gaming applications has allowed smaller developers to bring their products to the market at a much cheaper cost than before, according to David Roberts, an assistant professor in computer science.
Games such as Fruit Ninja, Temple Run, Angry Birds, Candy Crush and, most recently, Flappy Bird have been able to make a significant impact in the industry of mobile gaming, despite being developed and released by small, independent gaming studios.
Roberts said smaller game studios no longer need to go through larger companies in order to package their product for distribution but now they only risk development cost with new games.
This has provided companies, such as Tryhard Games and other independent developers, the opportunity for success.
Many mobile games are highly successful due to their addictive nature. Players feel the “competitive drive to beat the high score or next stage,” said Brien Croft, a sophomore in computer science and a designer for Tryhard Games.
Tryhard Games is a small game studio founded by Mark Fershteyn and Angel Olavarria, two UNC-Greensboro alumni who currently reside in Raleigh.
Croft said his team hopes to breakout into the competitive-mobile-gaming market with its debut game “Dot Drop.” In this game, the player connects dots of different colors as they fall down the screen.
Roberts, who researches how video games reveal human behavior, said mobile games have opened the industry up to an entirely new demographic.
Traditionally, most console game players are in the 18 to 25 male demographic, but the portability and shorter game length of mobile games have made them more appealing to women and older demographics thereby contributing to their success, Roberts said.
Both Croft and Roberts emphasize that the major component behind the success of games is their social aspect. If users see their friends playing a game, then they will be more inclined to also play it. This in turn leads to a “viral adoption,” Roberts said, which is a trend that drastically increases the rate at which new users start to play the game.
Mobile game companies make use of an entirely new business model to turn a profit. Instead of purchasing a game outright, many games are free to play but allow users the option to spend money on micro-transactions that will give them upgrades or power-ups and let them beat levels more easily, Roberts said.
Roberts said “less than 1 percent of people actually spend money on micro transactions but those that do spend a lot of it.”
Croft said Dot Drop’s in-game purchases will be cosmetic rather than functional.