The gaming world was rejuvenated by the introduction of the smartphone which gave developers and avid gamers a brand new mobile platform to enjoy. The mobile-based gaming industry has grown in the last few years with everyone from various age ranges and social backgrounds enjoying the gaming experience. It has opened up the world of gaming to an entirely fresh audience, some of which have never even played a game on an electronic device previously. Both Android and Apple lead the way in the new gaming market at the moment but the life-long question needs to get answered – which is better?
The App Stores
Google Play and the iOS Store are the two large catalogues’ you can pick from for Android and Apple games respectively. Both offer a vast range of games and apps and thanks to this the mobile gaming market is already set to overtake console games in the revenue stakes. Last year iOS were releasing on average around 500 games every day compared to Android’s 250.
Whilst that may not be great for developers or independent publishers who will struggle to get their game seen it does provide a huge assortment of gaming options for smartphone and tablet owners. But many popular games and apps for sports news feeds, bingo sites and next-gen console remakes do always seem to find their way onto iOS long before that of their Android counterpart.
The Choice
Arguably the Android operating system is far superior to that of iOS generally speaking, even though iOS 8 has helped Apple close that gap significantly. But when it comes to gaming it does appear that Android struggles somewhat? The truth is developers generally opt for Apple’s iOS over Android for many different reasons but accessibility and reach do seem to factor in to things.
If a game sits on both platforms there does appear to be more purchases made on iOS, which seems to point to the fact that games sell better from an iPhone. The fact that Apple provides just a handful of devices compared to those that run Android quite frankly makes some developers a little uncomfortable.
The Future
Smartphone and tablet technology will continue to evolve. It’s a thriving industry that grows with every next generation device that arrives in the market. We’re already in the age of the smartwatch and already developers and innovators are looking at the best way to utilise this new wearable technology and make it the next mobile gaming platform.
What’s next in the Apple v Android showdown?… I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
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