Recently in the racing games industry, there has been a trend in developers investing in their own mobile titles.
Moreover, developers are pouring time, money, and effort into this market, at an increasing rate. Accordingly, maybe, just maybe, mobile titles might be the future of racing games.
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With all the focus on the mobile market and the shift of interest to it, we can confidently say that it has a bright future. There's also more than meets the eye in this case. But what is driving developers into this market?
The numbers don't lie
Don't look any further than the classic racing title from Nintendo, Mario Kart. Let us take Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as an example, released in April 2017. The game is also, the best selling instalment in the franchise.
Nintendo's financial results sheet from May 2021, proves this. With Nintendo selling over 35.3 million copies, the game was incredibly successful. Despite it being a revamp of its Wii U predecessor Mario Kart 8.
In September of 2019, Mario Kart Tour had its ground-breaking debut in mobile games. The mobile title created a huge media buzz and eventually surpassed over 200 million downloads. So, in a shorter period, the mobile title had roughly 5.6 times more downloads! But why did it see all this success?
The king of accessibility
How can a mobile game out-do the best selling Mario Kart console game of all time? The answer is accessibility. Almost every single person who is at a certain age owns a mobile phone in 2021.
So, with it being a candidate to receive games, means it's the platform with the greatest amount of player access to it.
These numbers certainly appeal to game developers and providing your game to the largest audience is a window for exposure that shouldn't be missed.
Moreover, the unique marketing models followed by most mobile games also make them easy to access. With most mobile titles being free, but sporting in-game purchases.
That means any person with a phone, can get their hands on the game, at least for a bit. Also, in-game purchases can make a lot of revenue. For example, Mario Kart Tour netted $200 million through in-game purchases.
Mobile titles of the future
On paper, it might seem like we're making a solid case for mobile racing titles. But you might be sceptical of how this translates into the actual markets.
But, some of the biggest developers of racing titles are getting into the mobile market. The biggest examples include Racing Master and Assetto Corsa's more sim-focused mobile racer that is dropping soon.
Mobile racing games have always been some of the most popular mobile titles. Such as the famous Asphalt series has surpassed one billion installs across the franchise.
Arcade racers have been in trend, and now we have two upcoming sims, and we can't wait to see what is in store. How far can the technological advancement of mobiles push the limits of racing games?
Only time will tell.
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