[dylan604]

Not being a game dev, I've often wondered how much the mobile platform for games lowered the barier to entry compared to PC/console games. Unity came along and opened up a lot of doors for people, but I'm not sure how much it is used for mobile (should provide an idea of my knowledge--or lack of--in this area).

Mobile games seems to just be flooded with copycat/clones with slight variations of the same game play with a lot looking like something that could be completed in a weekend or 2 or 3 weekends by someone looking for a quick buck. I've seen some games that look interesting, but their lootbox or other constant nagging for paid enhancements are really just a total turn off.

[donavanm]

I have a little knowledge of actual gambling “games” ala video poker etc. They seem to be dominated by large publishers who farm content from a collection of in house & contract “studios.” The studious crank out an entire new game on the order of 12-16 weeks using a single integrated team of development, art assets, marketing and production management. Releasing multiple games varying in assets/branding, but identical mechanics, is a very intentional strategy. Applies to “refrahing” popular older games as well.

History wise I suspect the micro monetized mobile apps trace their origins back to the “social platform” games of the 2000s ala Zynga, and the online “game platforms” of poker, faux-scrabble, etc of the yahoo era.

[bobthepanda]

I think part of the problem is the games that ended up setting the tone for the platform. Consoles historically did a fair amount of vetting of titles on their platforms. Steam did not have programs like Greenlight or Early Access until later in its lifetime.

Mobile's games that set the tone were ad-supported tchotchkes with microtransactions and the rest is history.

[8note]

Mobile imo replaced flash games... which were also full of variations on a theme

[AniseAbyss]

There's a lot of money in gambling.

[dylan604]

Yeah, I've met several people that use cashapp to send money to reload their account in games, and if they do well, they get paid their winnings via cashapp. Totally circumventing the 30% cut, and legality rules too. I'm sure it's a wackamole type of thing with games getting yanked off the stores.

These are targeted directly at addicts (not just gambling) as the game play is rather basic and just entertaining enough to keep that tweaker mindset occupied.