April 14, 2024
Mobile gaming has become more and more popular over the last decade. This is due to a few different reasons. This biggest reason is their accessibility. While not everyone can afford a good PC or a console, all you need for mobile gaming is a smartphone. In addition to this, mobile esports titles are usually not as vast and complex. This makes it so that these games can be played on average smartphones. And while mobile gaming is far more accessible than any other form of gaming, it is no less competitive than its PC or console counterparts. With mobile esports leagues and tournaments, mobile gaming has truly made an impact in the gaming industry. With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the best mobile esports titles in 2024.
League of Legends: Wild Rift
Wild Rift is a 5v5 MOBA game developed and published by Riot Games in 2020. Since its initial release, it has garnered quite an audience. This is mostly due to the existing popularity of League of Legends. The gameplay is quite similar to League of Legends. However, Wild Rift features a smaller map, making matches last for a shorter period of time. This, in addition to the game being available for all Android and iOS devices, makes this modified version of the game far more accessible than its PC counterpart. For players who were intimidated by the complexities of League of Legends, Wild Rift is a perfect modification of the already hugely popular PC game. In addition to that, it seems to have garnered a whole new audience which managed to elude one of the biggest pitfalls of the Leage of Legends community. According to an article written in The Washington Post, Wild Rift has less online harassment while keeping all of the fun parts of League of Legends. All of this makes Wild Rift extremely popular, even four years after its initial release.
Another widely popular 5v5 MOBA game for mobile devices is Arena of Valor. This title is similar to League and Wild Rift in many things and is widely regarded as the reason behind why Wild Rift was made in the first place. While Riot wasn’t sure that a mobile version of League could be done, the popularity of Arena of Valor proved otherwise. Three years after the games initial release, Riot finally announced Wild Rift, the modified mobile version of League.
Fortnite Battle Royale
With the huge popularity of Fortnite, it comes as no surprise that the mobile version of the game was insanely popular as well. The game garnered an audience so fast that in the first three weeks after its initial release, it made $15 million on iOS in-game purchases only. The gameplay follows the standard form of the battle royale genre with players trying to be the last alive, either solo or in teams. One great aspect of the mobile version of Fortnite is its cross-platform functionality which allows players to participate in games on the go. The mobile version of the game has been appraised for its graphics and the ability to run smoothly on most average smartphones.
Another game of the same genre released in 2018 is PUBG Mobile. PUBG Mobile is a free-to-play battle royale game released for Android and iOS. It’s a mobile adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds and is to this day one of the most played mobile games of all time. PUBG Mobile is similar to PUBG: Battlegrounds in gameplay.
Clash Royale
Clash Royale is a real-time strategy game developed in 2016 by Supercell, a Finnish mobile game development company based in Helsinki. It was made as a spinoff of the already popular title Clash of Clans, a free-to-play mobile strategy game. Clash Royale adds new elements to the game. Besides strategy, the game includes a multiplayer online battle arena. The premise of the game is to destroy more towers than your opponent. What makes this game great is the short run time of matches, with each match lasting 3 minutes or 5 minutes if the original match ends in a tie. Players are ranked by their number of trophies won in multiplayer games. The popularity of Clash Royale has even inspired the creation of The Clash Royale League, an official team esports world championship.
After the success of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, Supercell came out with another hit. Brawl Stars was initially released in 2017 and has since gained a huge following. This colorful MOBA and third-person hero shooter features 80 unlockable characters. The characters called “Brawlers” differ in rarity and abilities. After picking their character, the players can then choose between different game modes, all with different objectives. The games popularity was evident in the first month of its release, gathering more than $63 million. Now, seven years after its initial release, the game is still thriving. This is evident from its large and active community and the frequent collaborations with famous brands.
Conclusion
Mobile games have revolutionized gaming in a way that makes it more accessible to a larger number of players. Not only does it require only your smartphone to participate, but it offers players gaming on the go. Some games like Fortnite even offer cross-platform functionality. Others are somewhat less complex adaptations of their PC or console counterparts. All in all, looking at trends in the past decade, it seems that mobile gaming is gaining popularity in the community and for a good reason.