New game development trends emerge every day. Most of them are caused by rapid technological advances and changing gamer preferences. Some of these trends come and go, while others last for years.

Whether you are a game developer, game development student or game development enthusiast, you should be aware of the current and future trends. It will allow you to design the most advanced games best suited for the ever-changing market.

As 2022 approaches, we want to help you start planning for the next phase of mobile game development. Understanding the latest trends in mobile gaming will help you make the right decisions about the types of games to develop, the target audience, and which marketing and monetization strategies to employ.

Mobile gaming keeps growing fast

If you're developing mobile games, rest assured that you'll be busy for some time in a growing market. No matter how many developers are vying for a piece of the pie, there will be plenty of sweet spots for all. According to Statista research, by 2021 there will be nearly 4 billion smartphones in people's pockets and wallets, and nearly 1.8 billion people have downloaded games for their smartphones. By 2025, that number is expected to surge to more than 2.2 billion. 

• Newzoo predicts that handheld gaming revenues will exceed $85 billion in 2021 and $100 billion in 2023.
• According to Research and Market, the majority of gaming revenue will come from mobile devices by 2023.
• According to Newzoo, Asia Pacific is currently the largest and fastest growing regional market for handheld games.

The practical conclusion to be drawn from these statistics is that cross-platform development is clearly within reach, regardless of the demographic, genre or geographic region you are targeting.

What makes cross-platform development challenging is not the different codebases, but the need to optimize your game for an ever-increasing variety of devices, all with different hardware capabilities. While there are fewer than 10 major iPhone models, there are thousands of different Android-based smartphones with varying performances.

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Hyper-casual games continue to lead the top

According to SensorTower's Industry Trends report, hyper-casual games dominate the charts in 2020. In addition, the casual game Among Us was one of the most successful games of the previous year.

It seems that many people are turning to casual games during the 2020 pandemic. According to SensorTower, "adoption of the top 1,000 hyper-casual genre games in 2020 grew 45% year-over-year." Additionally, the installed base of hyper-casual games in 2020 has surpassed 10 billion.

Most likely because these games are easy to play and allow people to have fun and relax during these tough times.

We expect this trend to continue through 2022 as demand for hyper-casual games remains strong.

To learn more about hyper-casual games, you can check "How Can Hyper Casual Game Stay Popular And Profitable" of our previous articles.

The puzzle game genre is evolving further

The puzzle game genre has undergone many changes in the past few years. All of the top triple-play puzzle games have adopted the latest mobile game market trends and are adding different meta layers to their core gameplay.

We see this in games like Homescapes, Gardenscapes, Clockmaker, and even newly successful puzzle games like Project Makeover, which have meta layers of fashion, decoration, and storytelling.

This is the result of market saturation. Because it's hard to be noticed and beat giants like Candy Crush in the trivial subgenre, developers are adding new and exciting elements to their games.

Moreover, this strategy allows developers to appeal to a broader audience. So instead of just targeting trivial gamers, puzzle games with meta layers can appeal to gamers interested in design, fashion and even storytelling games.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented reality is one of the trends that will have the greatest impact on the game development industry. This trend applies to all types of games: from simple mobile games for 7-year-olds to advanced video games for adult gamers.

AR technology enables developers to create immersive environments and take the gaming experience to a new level. AR games expand the gaming landscape and make gaming more fun - it allows gamers to explore real-world environments, not just the landscapes created by graphic designers.

AR technology is widely used on social media - this is nothing new to modern users. As a result, many gaming companies are utilizing AR not to showcase their innovation, but to keep up with the standards of the new age.

This trend will continue to grow in 2022. Therefore, you would do well to learn more about augmented reality gaming and consider how you can use it in practice.

Gamers expect a PC-quality experience on mobile phone

Over the past few years, smartphone hardware capabilities have increased rapidly.

According to Unity's report, "Better mobile chipsets offer higher performance and less battery consumption, providing higher screen resolution for a display size that now averages 6 inches."

In addition, 5G enables incredible speeds (20 x 4G) and low latency (20 milliseconds to 5 milliseconds), according to Ericsson.

The main advantages of 5G for mobile gaming:

• Lower latency rates or the time it takes for a set of data to be transferred between two points
• Increased capacity for a richer multiplayer gaming experience
• More streaming opportunities for live service games (aka cloud gaming)

Because of this, we are seeing more and more high production value AAA mobile games. And that's exactly what gamers are looking for.

There is a need for a mobile gaming experience that can compete with PCs and consoles. Players expect high-quality graphics and complex gameplay with rich worlds on all devices.

However, these expectations put a lot of pressure on developers to raise production standards while striving to deliver exciting and unique gaming experiences.

Players want social connections in mobile game

The social element in games became more important during the pandemic and continues to be something that increases user retention and overall engagement.

This is what makes it one of the most important mobile gaming trends.

Games that allow players to play against others or play and communicate with others typically have higher stickiness.

According to Unity, "more than half of regular gamers play an average of 7 hours a week with others online, and 55% report using social games to stay connected during the pandemic."

Currently, about two-thirds of the top 50 mobile games have at least one social feature (App Annie). Some popular social features in mobile games include:

• In-game chat
• Social media connections
• Guilds
• Co-op mode
• PvP mode

According to Facebook, "Four in ten (38%) new gamers in the U.S. say they prefer to chat with others while playing games, while three in ten (29%) existing gamers in the U.S. say the same."

We are now seeing many mobile games expanding and improving their social features, especially from Asia. However, there are also some great Western examples, such as Call of Duty: Mobile with its ring chat rooms, and Roblox where players can enjoy shows.

PocketGamer calls the evolution of social experiences in mobile games "Mobile Social 2.0".

Remember, ring chat rooms aren't just a great place for players to interact - they're also a great opportunity for profit, as they're often a place to show off their avatars, skins, and gear. Plus, it's a great way to increase user retention.

Multiplayer games have become very advanced and sophisticated on mobile devices, which is why they attract so many users.

However, creating a high-quality multiplayer game with rich social elements is never easy.

The key is to provide a seamless gameplay experience and good matchmaking. Connecting players with similar skills and attributes are crucial.

Studios are improving genre strategy and monetization practices

Gamers are playing for longer and spending more than ever before. For mobile games from 2016 to 2020, player retention at the 75th percentile on day 30 increased by 7.1%. In-app purchase conversion rates are up 7.7%. Mobile gamers are spending more money, more often. Mobile ad revenue has grown by more than 8% since 2020.

But competition is also fiercer than ever, and the studios that benefit most from these improvements are those that plan and take a rigorous approach to monitor genre trends and monetization techniques.

The top downloads in 2020 are a good clue as to how the genre is likely to shake out in the coming years: primarily hyper-casual, but with clear progress in the mid-core as well, especially as bandwidth and device performance improve. The #1 and #3 downloads are Battle Royale, while the rest are hyper-casual, except for virtual pet apps.

Any F2P game will require skilled subsequent monetization, with in-app purchases (IAPs) and bonus ads continuing to be the primary methods. Ads will also produce consistent monetization results for almost all mobile game categories. Reward ads are content that gamers choose to view in exchange for some gameplay advantage, have the highest effective cost per thousand views (eCPM), and have significantly better click-through rates (CTR) than banner ads.

The gaming industry is like any other industry: the key to success is to have a solid plan in place and adapt your technology stack accordingly. Gaming is a relatively mature industry, and there are a number of best practices you can leverage to keep your KPIs on the rise.

Targeted mobile game advertising is becoming increasingly difficult since the changes of IDFA

Recent changes in advertising on major mobile platforms have made it more difficult to acquire professional mobile game users. Recent changes to Apple's Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) have compromised advertisers' ability to measure effectiveness and target users. Previously, IDFA was enabled by default and provided users with an opt-out option. Now opting in will significantly reduce the effectiveness of IDFA in measuring mobile game ads.

The change is so dramatic that Facebook has hinted it could reduce developer revenue by 50%. Google's Android Ads ID is following suit, tweaking its own privacy features to hurt targeting and retargeting ads. While advertisers will eventually adapt to these changes, more traditional forms of creative advertising appear to be on the horizon.

Ad formats continue to evolve

Playable ads

The changes in Apple and Google ad privacy laws we talked about earlier will drive mobile gaming brands to other ad formats, and playable ads look set to lead the way. In short, playable ads are interactive ads that allow users to try out core features of an app or game, such as a free demo.

A core benefit of playable ads is the ability to use in-ad data for ad effectiveness analysis. In addition, they allow users to experience different touchpoints throughout the process. This interactivity is key, and the gamification of ads naturally attracts mobile gamers. Gamification doesn't just cater to hardcore gamers either, with playable ads for casual games seeing 113% growth by 2020. Whether you're focused on FPS or mobile RPG marketing, interactivity is strong.

Playable ads have been so successful that they are considered the most effective in-app ad format. A Facebook case study found that mobile gaming company Me2Zen increased click-through rates by 10x and achieved a 50% return on ad spend through playable ads.

To learn more about playable ads, you can check "How Playable Ads Boost App Installs on App Marketing?" of our previous articles.

Motivation-driven advertising

Old stereotypes about who plays games and why are a thing of the distant past - especially with the rise of mobile gaming. In fact, 80% of self-described "non-gamers" play games on their cell phones. Mobile gaming has expanded the player base for gaming; fishing in an oversaturated audience is not sustainable. The latest development in mobile game advertising is the focus on player motivation.

Motivations such as social connection, escapism, progression, discovery, and relaxation can all be leveraged across different user segments. Riot Games leveraged socially connected motivational video ad campaigns in their recent campaign Promoting League of Legends: Wild Rift to showcase how industry leaders are leveraging motivation-driven advertising.