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by ricardobeat 1001 days ago
You might think that, but the “not self respecting” mobile and console gamers out there outnumber you 3:1.

Some of the most popular games have been PUBG, Fortnite, Rainbow Six, Roblox… I don’t play on mobile myself but you can’t deny this new reality.
2 comments
bigstrat2003 1001 days ago
Don't just sneak "console gamers" in there, that's disingenuous when the GP didn't say anything about them.

Anyways, statistics aside he's right. Mobile games aren't the same thing as console/PC games. They are, almost without exception, thinly veiled monetization machines designed to be almost fun but not actually fun, just so you will pay money. They are literally designed to be less fun as a business strategy. There are games on real gaming platforms which are just as exploitative and poorly designed, but they are the exception. With mobile games they are the rule.

Given that the nature of the markets is so wildly different, it's perfectly reasonably to say "no, these are different things".

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ricardobeat 1001 days ago
You also seem to be thinking of Candy Crush style games, whereas I was pointing out that in recent years some of the most popular mobile games are FPS, RTS, also things like Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact and other action games. On the other end, desktop games have also become monetization machines in the same fashion - Fortnite, Apex, CS:GO, OW, Minecraft, Roblox are massive money-making machines. Any judgement about mobile games being 'less fun' or 'less serious' is entirely subjective.

This thread started because someone though Steam stands as the universal entrypoint to gaming in general, which is absolutely far from the truth.

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Ntrails 1001 days ago
The growth of mobile gaming in regions that used to be dominated by LAN cafe based gaming is super interesting. Most of the previously buzzing gaming hubs died during covid. PC Gaming equipment is extortionate, even in higher net worth areas, phones are ubiquitous anyway
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danhor 1001 days ago
High-end equipment certainly increased sharply in price in the last few years, but few people gaming on PC spend anywhere near that amount of money. If you just went to play most games on a reasonable framerate (30fps) a Steam Deck for 400$ is perfectly fine.

For those with high-resolution screens and 144fps the equipment is not affordable to most but not necessary.

But an already existing phone is cheaper for sure

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