History of mobile games

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The popularisation of mobile games began as early as 1997 with the introduction of Snake preloaded on Nokia feature phones, demonstrating the practicality of games on these devices. Several mobile device manufacturers included preloaded games in the wake of Snake's success. In 1999, the introduction of the i-mode service in Japan allowed a wide variety of more advanced mobile games to be downloaded onto smartphones, though the service was largely limited to Japan. By the early 2000s, the technical specifications of Western handsets had also matured to the point where downloadable applications (including games) could be supported, but mainstream adoption continued to be hampered by market fragmentation between different devices, operating environments, and distributors.

The introduction of the iPhone and its dedicated App Store provided a standard means for developers of any size to develop and publish games for the popular smartphone. Several early success stories from app developers in the wake of the App Store's launch in 2008 attracted a large number of developers to speculate on the platform. Most initial games were published as premium (pay-once) titles, but the addition of in-app purchases in October 2009 allowed games to try other models, with notable successes Angry Birds and Cut the Rope using a combination of free-to-try and ad-supported games. Apple's success with the App Store drastically altered the mobile landscape and within a few years left only its and Google's Android-based smartphones using its Google Play app store as the dominant players.

A major transition in game monetization came with the introduction of Candy Crush Saga and Puzzle & Dragons, taking gameplay concepts from social-network games which generally required the player to wait some length of time after exhausting a number of turns for a day, and offering the use of in-app purchases to refresh their energy. These games generated revenue numbers previously unseen in the mobile game sector, and became the standard for many freemium games that followed. Many of the most successful games have hundreds of millions of players, and have annual revenues exceeding US$100 million a year, with the top games breaking US$1 billion.

More recent trends have included hyper-casual games such as Crossy Road and location-based games like Pokémon Go.