Game publishers still struggling with consistent hits and monetization in mobile games

Some companies are making a killing in mobile games, and they’re making it look easy. Others are struggling with the challenge of people finding their games among a sea of titles. But producing big entertainment hits is still more art than science, and that’s true in mobile games as well.

Smartphones have been growing as a game platform since 2007, when Apple’s iPhone debuted. Tablet games have been on the rise since 2010, with the iPad launch. Now the market supports both iOS and Android as strong dueling ecosystems. The market is so much bigger now, with 50 billion apps downloaded from the App Store and $10 billion paid by Apple to developers. And games are the No. 1 category for generating revenues on the mobile platforms. But it seems like it’s no easier for individual companies to consistently stay on the top of the rankings.