With the mobile game market’s outstanding growth over recent years, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how young of an industry it still is. However, following a post-Covid market decline – which in reality, was more of a market correction – and tightening privacy regulations, games industry operators and investors alike have been quick to doubt the industry’s growth potential with some even declaring that mobile game marketing is dead.
I can’t say that I share their skepticism: the mobile game market is barely in its teens and it would be unimaginative – and, frankly speaking, ambitionless – to presume that this is all that the industry has to offer. However, it’s also clear that legislative changes and player feedback both demand a new approach from game makers and marketers. Here are three ways the mobile games industry should adapt their approach to this new environment:
Game studios have historically been fixated on product development: making the best mobile games possible. "The best" has often correlated directly with what game developers personally liked – we probably don’t need to recap the full, problematic history with representation in games here – and only after a game has been finished has anyone thought about how and who to market the game to.