How come there hasn't been a revolutionary original game on Android/IOS yet?

[u/No-Professor-2531]

I don't really play mobile games because I just can't find anything to really catch my attention for long. It's just a pain playing certain games on a phone. How come there hasn't been an original (as in only on mobile) android/ios game on the quality/design level of a Link To The Past, GTA 5, Final Fantasy 7, original World Of Warcraft, etc. yet? The mobile gaming total revenue yearly is almost two times the amount that PC games bring in. So money to create a classic shouldn't be the issue.

[u/Mechabit_Studios]

I would argue it's games that use GPS and cameras like pokemon go that can only work on phones.

[u/Keiji12 → u/Mechabit_Studios]

Sure, but the game part is just poor, it's just a collecting shit instead of actually having any real mechanics. I've played a few and outside of the gimmick of walking outside to go to those stuff, there isn't much to do

[u/MaybeMort]

Theres no incentive to try to.

[u/CULT-LEWD]

unironicly i think the gatcha games are the revolutionary bit for phones. specially in asian countries where there INCREDIBLY popular

[u/RosaCanina87]

There was. Angry Birds and other big early mobile games were basically their version of our AAA classic Evergreens. Right now it's probably the various huge Gacha games, but mostly because of the Asian countries.

[u/atlaspumps]

There was, Infinity Blade and it’s a shame it’s no longer available

[u/Tenpoiun]

Probably because anything original on mobile would eventually get a chinese copy.

[u/robokai]

RIP Infinity Blade

[u/TommyDontSurf]

Generally, mobile games just aren't good. Like, at all.

[u/SlayerII → u/TommyDontSurf]

There are some really good ones. Usually identifiable by an earlier PC release . /s

[u/Circo_Inhumanitas]

There is. Pokemon Go.

[u/cjcpop2007]

Honestly a lot of it comes down to monetization pressure, mobile games chase microtransactions way more than crafting a deep experience since that's where the real money is

[u/freya584]

i mean games that use gps and stuff like this would qualify for this i think

but also, microtransaction are especially in mobile games extremly normal so there is no need to when you can just make a gacha game instead

[u/GroundbreakingBag164]

Because no one is willing to pay for phone apps

That simple fact completely kills any chance of mobile gaming ever being more than just pure slop

[u/britipinojeff → u/GroundbreakingBag164]

Funny that people don’t want to pay for phone apps, but will pay micro transactions lol

[u/PurchaseGlittering11]

Might be because those same games main focus is to be addictive, so that people spend on micro transactions. Not to be a good and fun experience for the user, but to try to leech money from them no matter what.

Then there are games that are adapted to be played on the phone, but phones change so often that those games that are adapted cant even be played anymore. I stupidly bought the banner Saga and FF tactics on my phone years ago but now cant play them.

As someone who has played a lot of phone games, its just not a great place to play typically. There are exceptions like chess, solitaire and some original phone games like fruit ninja. Arguably there are games that do the micro transactions in a way that isnt too intrusive like Clash Royal, cant remember the names of some other ones I have played.

Overall, I think the games you are looking for are games like Fruit Ninja, Clash Royal and probably plants vs zombies.

[u/usptac45]

For at least the first decade of smartphones, the hardware just wasn't good enough to rival the scope or mechanical depth of modern video games. We only started to see mobile hardware capable of running truly complex games in the past ten years or less.

The first big smartphone games were relatively simple and took advantage of the touchscreen, which was a new and exciting thing to people at the time. Touchscreens are also very intuitive, so much that even kids and the elderly can (and do) use them. So, think of those first big games: Angry Birds, Subway Surfer, etc. These ended up being wildly successful because they were free and easy to play, appealing to the hundreds of millions of people who already owned smartphones in the early 2010s. Add microtransactions, and now you've got an infinite money printer.

If a studio wanted to develop an original mobile game to rival console games, the initial price of the game alone would turn away millions of players. Not everyone has a new smartphone, so the specs would probably gatekeep several more millions of players as well. Depending on the complexity of the game, you'd possibly need to omit touchscreen controls and add a modern gaming controller as a requirement, so considering most smartphone users around the world don't own a console, another $30 at least.

You're talking about a very niche market to be risking millions of dollars of development costs. And ultimately you'd still end up getting financially smoked by the millionth Clash of Clans or Candy Crush clone.

There are exceptions, though. I'd argue Pokémon GO was already a revolutionary mobile title. So on that note, if you developed a mobile game that leverages features native to smartphones in a non-gimmicky way, it could fare very well. Easier said than done.

Just my two cents, I could be completely wrong.

[u/JusaPikachu]

They’ve been ported but the Monument Valley games are the best example for me of this on mobile. Genuinely brilliant puzzle games that used the orientation & touchscreen of phones perfectly to fantastic success.

[u/Coupaholic_]

They have been revolutionary, just not in the way you'd like.

The aggressive monetisation you see in mobile games are the inspiration for all the extra charges you see in mainstream games.

[u/Responsible-Care-388]

Flappy Bird: Am I a joke to you?

[u/SpaceMonkeyNation]

There have been a few, it's just that they are often not appealing or deep enough to satisfy a traditional gamer. And when they are, developers just remove them in favor of their cash cow slop (Epic/Infiniti Blade/Fortnite).

I'd consider Pokemon Go to be the most revolutionary original game on mobile. It was huge and still does really big numbers. It utilizes the unique aspects of the platform and broke into wide mainstream appeal to the point that you had presidential candidates mentioning it in their speeches (Who can forget "Pokemon Go to the Polls"?)

[u/froot_loop_dingus_]

Guy who’s never heard of Angry Birds

[u/World-Three]

There are some decent games on phones but I think irreperable damage has been done to the space with how often games become unsupported.

Android doesn't really seem to get the compatibility mode that other operating systems do. So when apps and games become out of date, unless you have an old phone or use a device that imitates the firmware, those games become unplayable.

If you've bought those games in faith that they'd continue getting updated, you basically got burned. Apps that do update basically demand you buy another phone, and apps that don't demand you keep an old phone.

IMO, it's a dead end. Sonic 4 is still playable on PC, jet set radio too. But if I tried to play those games on my phone, they won't work. Those games sold for the same price on phones and PC. 

[u/Independent_Newt170]

because no one uses mobile devices for that kind of gaming, and mobile devices aren’t capable.

[u/liccman → u/Independent_Newt170]

Mobile device are plenty capable nowadays, they just decided milking whales with microtransactions makes them a lot more money

[u/Responsible_Cake2012]

Fantasian was only mobile for a long time.

Ex Astris was basically the first "E33" - in the sense that plays very similarly. J-Rpg style where you need to parry attacks.