From below us to Genshin Impact, mobile games explode silently

Mobile games are very good at keeping us distracted for awkward time shifts in our schedule, from commuting, to waiting in line for seats at a restaurant, to the few minutes we consciously slumber in front of us in bed. Instead of holding players captive for a long time, most are designed for quick, short bursts. Take the absurdly captivating cat-watching game Neko Atsume, or the fast fire rounds of the hit deception game Between us – most sessions take less than 15 minutes.

But as staying home and avoiding crowds is crucial to keeping a global pandemic at stake, mobile games are scratching a different kind of itch. They are seeing increasing popularity, even among core circles. More than just the thoughtless passage of time of yesteryear, today’s mobile games are not only enjoyable but also worthwhile social experiences: they let players ward off the one-two stroke of isolation and “always online” fatigue.

No other game has the advent of mobile games as a ‘core’ genre more than the meteoric rise of Genshin Impact. An RPG that is free to play in the vein of its most obvious inspiration –The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild–Genshin Impact is remarkable because it’s an extraordinarily intricate title that bursts from the seams of activities, from finding ingredients to cook with, to an abundance of quests and adding new heroes to your party. In a time where many players are limited at home, it is a game that is custom made for long periods of time.

But Genshin Impact is not a meaningless loop of repetitive content. In stark contrast to the cyclical tik-tik-tik cadences to reap your rewards in other mobile games, it also tells a deep, immersive story that not only found an audience outside of the typical mobile game demographic, but also among new players without the hardware. to play more conventional and resource-consuming RPGs. In the first week Genshin Impact 23 million mobile downloads seen. Perhaps we will soon see similar success in the bumper harvest of triple-A mobile experiences this year: the potential juggernauts like Diablo Immortal or Kidney: Reincarnation, the latter is so popular in Japan that it is already the best iPhone title since its release on February 18th.

Even as a largely single player experience, there is also a social aspect Genshin Impact, which allows players to tackle good, old-fashioned looting and burglary with friends. With the pandemic looming over us, recent titles hang even heavier on such social features, allowing players to express themselves beyond customizable avatars and weapon skins.

One such title is ‘Epic Games’ Fortnite. Before being banned from the App Store and Google Play in August last year, it was downloaded more than 129 million times in these markets. What’s more, his virtual world has evolved into expansive, expansive metaphors beyond his battle royal and survival modes. This is where players can blow each other up or concentrate on each other like Marshmello, Travis Scott and Deadmau5 – a development that follows the increase in popularity around virtual and streamed concerts on platforms like Twitch and Facebook. Travis Scott’s virtual concert in Fortnite, for example, has been watched by more than 12 million players.

Along with the social elements of these games, there is a growing common lexicon of words and expressions, some of which are influenced by popular culture. Take the wild popularity of Fortnite emotions, which have become a form of personal expression for players, as well as the game’s most recognizable and yet controversial symbols – which are often attributed without the honor of the original artists. These emotions can be used as a victory dance to defy defeated players, or, in the case of rarer emotions such as the ‘Rock Out’ and ‘The Floss’ movements, they serve as bragging rights for players who have been playing since the early days. Their popularity was even exploited by Epic Games for an emote competition, which encouraged Tiktok users to create dances that can be immortalized forever as a Fortnite emote.

A similar encyclopedia can be seen in Heaven: Children of Light by Thatgamecompany, the studio behind the award-winning art play, Travel. But other than Fortnite, Heaven is primarily centered on ‘expressions’ – collectible actions that allow players to communicate quietly with each other, from general like bending, to time-limited expressions like hair tumbling and playing fights. Its popularity is evident in the 35 million downloads since its Android release last year.

And of course there is ‘sus’ in Between us, used to slander an innocent crew member or to expose the game’s most heinous crime: willful murder. The key word captures the essence of the mobile game: a convenient shorthand for the word ‘suspicious’, and a meme centered on the funniest moments of the game. It came into popular use with Between us’ focuses on social interaction and collaboration, along with simple, straightforward mechanics that make the game incredibly easy to pick up. The result is a title that became popular and became the most played game ever, with about 500 million monthly users in November.

As Heaven and Fortnite, Between us feels like a game made for this era: an ointment for self-isolation and online fatigue. These mobile games meet the needs of their players for social connection amidst the pandemic.

But one game succeeds despite the global changes. Conventional wisdom suggests that the pre-pandemic popularity of Pokismon Gaan, a game that explicitly goes to get people together to explore every nook and cranny of the urban jungle, would have crumbled today. Yet 2020 was the highest earnings year to date. Developer Niantic has adapted its features to allow players to hunt Pokémon from the comfort of their couch, while still helping to connect players via remote attacks. This is the exception that proves the rule: mobile games thrive because they are crucial to making and maintaining personal connections, while also being mobile enough to adapt to monumental shifts in the spirit of the times.

2020 feels like the banner year for mobile games. As they go through the phases of rediscovery, or see renewed popularity during this period of self-isolation, they are likely to stay on track and explode in popularity in the years to come. You may soon see elements of Between us’ bluff feature in a console game, or encounter more social aspects in future RPGs. Their ubiquity – and their cultural impact – can no longer be ignored.