Mobile gaming is here to stay, and may even surpass the popularity of consoles, as developers increasingly turn their attention to mobile platforms. According to the Game Developers Conference 2013 State of the Industry Survey, game developers are developing less for consoles and PC’s than in the past.
The survey, which polled over 2,500 North American game developers who attended GDC 2012, revealed that smartphones and tablets are the most popular platforms to develop for. A majority 55% said that they were working on games for mobile devices, while 58% said they plan to release their next game on mobile platforms. PC’s and Macs were the second most popular development platforms, with 49% of those surveyed planning their next game on one of those platforms.
Gaming consoles came in last, with Nintendo being the least popular to develop for. 13% of those surveyed were currently developing games for the Xbox 360, 13% for the Playstation 3, and only 4.6% for Nintendo’s WiiU. Portable handheld devices fared even worse than their console counterparts, with only 2% of respondents currently developing for the category.
There is no doubt that developing games for consoles can be quite more involved, requiring teams of developers and significant financial backing. Mobile devices offer a simpler design factor for gaming, which may correlate to the popularity of mobile game development. Whatever the reason, the game market seems to be shifting towards a more mobile future.
[Via:Apple Insider]