AAA games disappeared from mobile phones. No one followed up on them

In recent years, gaming on mobile phones has been constantly addressed. Today, they already have previously unimaginable performance, thanks to which they could theoretically cope with even more demanding game titles. For example, Call of Duty: Mobile - an action shooter in battle royale mode that offers sophisticated graphics and great gameplay - proves this to us perfectly. But some users complain about the absence of so-called AAA titles on mobile phones. Although it is true that these games are really lacking, there is also a slightly different point of view. You may remember that once upon a time there was no shortage of similar titles and they enjoyed enormous popularity. Nevertheless, they disappeared and no one followed up on them.

If we look back a few years, when iOS and Android did not dominate the market at all, we can come across a number of interesting things. At that time, "full-fledged" games were completely common and practically everyone could install them - all you had to do was find the relevant Java file or buy it, own a compatible device and go for it. Although the graphics were critically low compared to today's situation, we still had AAA titles such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Spider-Man, Pro Evolution Soccer, Need for Speed, Wolfenstein or even DOOM. Even though the technology back then wasn't as advanced as it is today, the graphics weren't exactly the most realistic, and there could be all kinds of problems with the gameplay, but still everyone loved these games and was happy to spend a lot of time on them.

Why didn't the developers use the old ways

As already mentioned above, these games enjoyed a relatively decent popularity, but even so, the developers did not follow up on them and practically left them to fend for themselves. At the same time, nowadays, when phones have extreme performance, these could be really full-fledged games offering hours and hours of fun. But why did it even happen? We probably won't find a completely accurate answer to this question. In the vast majority of cases, and it doesn't have to be just mobile games, finances play a major role, which is quite possibly exactly the case. After all, you pay for gaming. Most classic AAA titles require us to buy and invest in them in advance, while they provide us with hours of fun in return. It's a little different with F2P (free to play) games, which mostly rely on a microtransaction system.

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This issue has already been mentioned marginally by several game developers, according to whom it is practically impossible to teach users to pay for mobile games. It is games on phones that are mostly free with a system of microtransactions that bring profit to the developers - in this case, the player can buy, for example, design improvements for his character, game currency, and the like. From this point of view, it makes sense that bringing a full-fledged AAA title to the phone might not be completely advantageous. This is because a lot of money would be spent on development, while subsequently users could give up on the game because it would seem too expensive to them. And what's more, why would they spend money on something they can play on a computer in better quality.

Prospects for a better tomorrow?

In conclusion, the logical question arises as to whether this situation will actually ever reverse and we will actually see the aforementioned AAA games on our iPhones as well. For now, there is no change in sight. In addition, with the advent of cloud gaming services, our chances are slowly diminishing, as these platforms, combined with a compatible gamepad, allow us to play desktop games on phones as well, without actually having the necessary system or performance. All we need is a stable internet connection and we can get down to business. On the other hand, it's great that we have a functional alternative that can even be free.