2022 was a year of big news and even bigger industry movements. Mobile gaming was no different. Here are the stories that set the scene back in March 2022.
Utomik take PC games to Android
A common criticism levelled at mobile gaming is that the power needed to offer experiences on-par with other platforms isn’t there. Sure, it’s evolving quickly, but a new console or a single component for a gaming PC can cost significantly more than a phone, and players are in the habit of demanding more bang for their buck.
But bringing PC games to mobile through cloud gaming can go a long way to dodging the problem. Mobile remains the most popular gaming platform worldwide largely due to the low entry barrier and Utomik’s news in March 2022 showed that these gamers can run games that far exceed most expectations.
2022 is the year that cloud gaming got its foothold with more services and capabilities just around the corner.
Activision-Blizzard scandal costs them $18 million
Activision-Blizzard has been at the centre of one of the year’s biggest developing stories, but the company’s woes haven’t ended there. In March the gaming giant was ordered to pay $18 million to claimants in a sexual harassment suit, as well as making moves to enhance its policies and harassment prevention training and implementing new tools to help foster a diverse workforce.
Unfortunately, while this suit has been settled, other suits have yet to be resolved, including allegations of sexual battery and blackmail, and with Activision as one party in the largest gaming acquisition of all time, the company remains under the microscope while keen to avoid any additional scandal.
Mobile Uncharted game given the chop
Naughty Dog is one of the most esteemed developers in the games space, achieving significant praise for its stories, graphics, and gameplay. So much so that PlayStation Studios settled on Naughty Dog IP for both its first film adaptation (Uncharted) and first television series (The Last of Us).
Unfortunately, it seems that that success didn’t transfer to mobile, as Naughty Dog’s first mobile game, Uncharted: Fortune Hunter, shut down in March 2022, having generated just $88,000 across five years. The failure only showcased again that different platforms require different approaches to gaming.
Call of Duty: Warzone comes to mobile
Call of Duty is one of the world’s biggest gaming franchises, and one that has successfully navigated the crossover to various devices. In fact, the series is so all-powerful it’s been highlighted as a point of contention for regulators and Microsoft competitors alike during the tech giants attempts to acquire Activision-Blizzard: Owning Call of Duty (and its multiple variations) could simply be too big for one platform holder to handle.
Warzone, the franchise’s first battle royale title, being brought to mobile devices signals once again the rise of mobile gaming. While Call of Duty launched first for console and PC, revenue was eclipsed by the success of Call of Duty: Mobile, which has earned more than $1.5 billion since its release in October 2019 and had been downloaded over 500 million times by May 2021.
Mobile gaming accounted for 36 percent of Activision-Blizzard’s total revenue in 2021, so stepping up mobile efforts with the world’s biggest gaming franchise is only ever a smart move.
Netflix make their gaming moves
Finland is in many ways the spiritual home of mobile gaming, and where some of the biggest names in the business got their start. As such, Netflix has been making several moves in the country as it attempts to make a name for itself in the games space.
The acquisition of Next Games in particular is notable due to the existing relationship between the two companies, with Next Games releasing Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales in 2021. Seems that Next made for the perfect partner for Netflix in March 2022, as it made its first steps into the Finnish games space with moves to cement its place within the games industry as a whole.
Do you have a favourite mobile story from 2022? Take to Twitter with the hashtag #PocketGamerYearInReview to tell us your highs and lows of the year.
Want more? We’ll be bringing you the rest of the year in highlights across the Christmas break.
