In a previous piece on this site we looked into what makes good app ideas fail, and touched on the idea of developers not having enough market research. In part that means that a good idea can come out of nowhere, but it might not be particularly useful if it doesn’t also fit in with where the mobile market is heading. And as we know now from essentially a decade’s worth of mobile apps, that market is evolving constantly.

To be clear, what follows can’t accurately be counted as market research. It is, however, a wide-ranging look toward the future of one of the most popular categories of mobile apps: gaming. And this is the sort of analysis that should occur at the very beginning of any developer’s process toward creating something new with the hope of success.

With that said, here are some of our educated guesses as to what the near future of mobile apps in the realm of gaming may hold.

More AR

It’s the easiest category to bring up, and one so broad that it should almost be divided into several. Here’s something interesting to think about though: at the time of this writing it hasn’t even been a year since we were introduced to mobile AR gaming beyond Pokémon GO. So, while it seems as if this is a corner of the mobile market that arrived, briefly spiked, and then disappeared from the news, the more accurate reality may simply be that developers are even now working on a whole new generation of advanced, incredible AR games. It’s certainly an area in which we’re going to see a lot of innovation in the near future.

Modernized Casino Experiences

Casino gaming is a genre that most people either adore or have nothing to do with. If you fall into the latter category, you may not realize how much more modern the genre has become. Online, 3D slots have developed with captivating themes and compelling animations that make them seem, frankly, more sophisticated and interesting. Titles like Jack And The Beanstalk, Gonzo’s Quest, and Frankenslot’s Monster are among those you may have seen, or even seen on mobile, and as more games join this category, we’ll likely start to see more standalone slot and casino arcades in app stores. It’s a genre that’s always growing and poised to keep doing so.

Real-Time Quiz Games

Not everyone would call the smash hit HQ Trivia a game. Some seem to consider it to be more of a show. Regardless, it’s redefined what “real time” means in mobile entertainment. In this game you’re not merely playing at the same time as others, or playing in an environment in which time passes even when you’re not playing. Rather you’re tuning in to a live broadcast during which a game is hosted by a human being on a video feed. Rest assured the success of this game is going to lead to a great deal of imitation, and very soon we might have whole categories of real-time quiz games and similar experiences.

Increasingly Sophisticated Shooters

If you pay any attention at all to the world of gaming, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Fortnite. Having broken out in the last few months, Fortnite can rightly be called the biggest game of 2018, and though it can be played on devices of all kinds, it’s really made an impact on mobile.

Using a simple but relatively new format by which 100 random online players are “dropped” onto a map to gather resources and battle each other, it’s revolutionized how we think of mobile shooters – and it’s just the beginning. Fortnite will improve, new versions of it will almost certainly come out, and mobile shooters will likely become more about total gaming experience and content than simply graphics and controls (as has largely been the case until now).

These concepts certainly don’t tell the whole story, and again this is more educated speculation than market research. But they’re certainly areas to watch in development, or consider if you’re looking into building your own mobile game.